“A Yankee on Puget Sound: Pioneer Dispatches of Edward Jay Allen, 1852-1855” by Karen L. Johnson and Dennis M. Larson Washington State University Press 208 pages, $29.95
In 1852, 22-year-old Edward Jay Allen arrived in Washington Territory. Before him lay three years of adventure.
He was drafted as a delegate to the Monticello Convention, led survey and construction teams laying out the Naches Pass wagon road, initiated relief efforts for the Longmire wagon train families, explored Puget Sound on a whaleboat, ran for Territorial Council and, with two others, made the first documented ascent of Mount Adams. Allen recorded it all in letters and a diary. His prose included humor, description and poetry while reflecting on social, political, racial and religious views of the time, delivering new insights into Pacific Northwest history.
The book is available through WSU Press, (509) 335-7880.
“New Editions: The Northwest’s Newspapers as They Were, Are and Will Be” by Steve Bagwell and Randy Stapilus Ridenbaugh Press 324 pages, $16.95
Technological advances are altering the face of modern newspapers. Big changes are in the pipeline at most major dailies.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has gone solely electronic and the Portland Oregonian cut home delivery from daily to four times a week.
In “New Editions,” two newsmen, Steve Bagwell, current managing editor for the McMinnville, Ore., News-Register; and Randy Stapilus, former Idaho reporter, and now publisher of Ridenbaugh Press, examine the state of the newspaper business in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. They review every newspaper publishing in the three states and cover the papers’ predecessors and evolution into their current form, including ownership and publishers’ and editors’ decisions whether or not to produce online editions.
Newspapers have evolved, from the time of hand-set type to the era of mass communication. Bagwell and Stapilus argue that newspapers of the future may be quite different from those of today, but today’s papers bear little resemblance to those of a century ago. The book is available through Ridenbaugh Press.
“Wisher, One Wish a Day” by Jocelyn Wadsworth self-published 180 pages, $6.99
I wish I could, I wish I had, I wish I never. ... A teenage girl finds a red leather-bound book in a bookstore called “Wisher.” She and a friend soon discover it is a magical tome that will grant them anything they desire.
Everyone wishes, writes first-time Lewiston author Jocelyn Wadsworth, but not everyone realizes what would really happen if they had everything they ever wished for. The book balances mystery, suspense and the supernatural, is recommended for ages 10 and older, and is available online in print or for Kindle through Amazon.com.
