cover image Whistlepunks and Geoducks: Oral Histories from the Pacific Northwest

Whistlepunks and Geoducks: Oral Histories from the Pacific Northwest

Ron Strickland. Paragon House Publishers, $24.95 (358pp) ISBN 978-1-55778-183-3

Reading this collection of oral histories, we wander across Washington State from the late 1800s to the present. Along the way a wide variety of interesting people tell the stories of events in their lives that have meant the most to them. One man relates how, with the guidance of Hawaiian exchange students, Prohibition-era high schoolers dive for sunken whiskey and make a nice profit; a woman follows in her father's footsteps and becomes a champion log roller; a 14-year-old, tired of planting onions for his father, runs away for a summer and becomes the ``Horse Heaven Kid,'' herding wild horses. One woman describes how her mother, an Indian, married a white man rather than the Indian chief she was supposed to wed. Strickland ( River Pigs and Cayuses ) has a gift for gleaning candid interviews from his subjects, and he knows these lilies need no gilding. His introductions are short and the narratives have been lightly edited for readability without sacrificing voice or authenticity. This trek will fascinate nature enthusiasts and city-slickers alike. Photos not seen by PW. (July)