In the Press

Martha’s Farm Featured Again

Janet Fisher2 Comments

A new story on the farm’s sesquicentennial status came out in the April edition of the Douglas Electric Company monthly magazine. April was the month my great-great-grandmother Martha Maupin purchased the family farm in 1868.

The story with photos: the book, me with the hills behind, me at five, and Martha’s house she had built for herself and her many children.

Craig Reed, local writer, visited the farm and talked with my daughter Carisa Cegavske and me before writing the cover story which got a nice spread, shown above. The farm would have qualified in 2018 but I didn’t put in the application until 2024.

Martha was the subject of my first published book, pictured in Craig’s story, A Place of Her Own: The Legacy of Oregon Pioneer Martha Poindexter Maupin, published by Globe Pequot Press. I didn’t have to write a book to qualify the farm for sesquicentennial status, but my research for the book certainly helped me put together the extensive information required for the application.

I grew up on this farm. The little girl curtseying in her overalls is me enjoying the freedom I experienced there. When my dad died in 2007 Carisa and her husband Robin Loznak decided to join me in keeping the farm. I had been away all my adult years so it was quite a change from city life I experienced in the interim. Their son Alex Loznak moved there with us, as well as my other daughter, Christiane Cegavske, and her child, Aspen Boutilier. Carisa, Robin and I still live there.

I love the farm’s hills for walking, and the quiet, where I find inspiration to write my books. My whole family loves the beauty of the land, the rich history, the wildlife. Christiane, Aspen and Alex visit as often as they can. That’s easier now for Christiane and Aspen, who lived in Kansas for ten years and now live in Portland, Oregon. Alex took a stint in New York City, then Eugene, Oregon, but he’s in Portland now too.

We all take pride that Martha was the founder of this farm, a woman who dared take on this treasure when it wasn’t all that easy for a woman to do.

Carisa in the purple and me in navy on the cover.

Martha’s Farm Makes the News

Janet Fisher2 Comments

With Martha’s Farm gaining Sesquicentennial status it’s making the front page news.

Drew Winkelmaier, reporter for The News-Review in Roseburg, Oregon, came out to the farm in Kellogg last week and put together a nice story for the Sunday edition.

That’s me on the porch, photo by Drew. We talked awhile then went down to the old barn that has stood on the property since the 1930s when my father bought the place from his great-uncle and had the barn built.

From there we visited the hazelnut orchards, our newest crop on the farm, which had been a prune farm since 1895 when Martha’s son Cap planted the first prune orchard.

With the prune market turning iffy and a burgeoning hazelnut market we began making the switch in 2011 when we planted our first hazelnut trees.

Drew’s story delves into the history from our discussion as well as information I had put together for the Oregon Century Farm and Ranch Program, much of it based on my research for the book I wrote about Martha, A Place of Her Own. When I took over the farm in 2008 I became another woman in the family to own the place and thought there might be a story in that. And yes, Martha had far more story than I ever imagined.

My family got together at the Oregon State Fair last Saturday, August 24, when fourteen farms were honored for Century status and two, including ours, for Sesquicentennial status. We received lovely certificates at the presentation when short narratives were read about each of the farms with photos on a screen above the stage.

After that we did what everybody does at the state fair. We visited the animals, including a competition among elegant horses in the historic horse barn. And the poultry and pigs and sheep and goats and cattle. Oh, and the beautiful family of huge black draft horses. Such magnificent creatures! And we saw exhibits of photography and artwork and ate too much fair food.

And on the way out we enjoyed strolling through the rides as the skies darkened and the lights came up.

Exciting times for Martha’s farm.

UV Magazine Spread

Janet Fisher4 Comments

UV Magazine, Lifestyle Magazine of the Umpqua Valley, did a story for their Fall 2018 edition on the local Roseburg writers group I belong to, An Association of Writers, and I was delighted to be featured with my books. UPDATE: The online version is up now.

UV Magazine Two-page Spread with Cover Overlay. Story and Cover Photos by Robin Loznak

The magazine is a beautifully produced publication that highlights people and activities in the Umpqua River region. A few days after Contributing Writer Sarah Smith asked to interview me and said they would send out a photographer, I learned that my favorite photographer, my son-in-law Robin Loznak, does freelance work for them. I mentioned that to Sarah, who passed the word to Account Executive Nicole Stratton, and the photo assignment went to Robin. A handy gig, since he and my daughter live on the family farm, just down the hill from me.

It just happened that the issue’s cover also features an autumn photo by Robin.

For the photo shoot on the article Robin and I went up to the top of the property and looked down over the big field above my house toward the setting sun. I used this sweeping view in one of the scenes in A Place of Her Own, the story of my great-great-grandmother Martha Maupin, who founded this Sesquicentennial Farm 150 years ago. I haven’t done the paperwork yet to receive that designation officially, but the farm qualifies. It has been a Century Farm since April 1968, the Martha A. Maupin Century Farm, one of the few in Oregon named for a woman.

Besides the fine overlook from the farm’s upper ridge, there was this perfect weathered stump for displaying my two published books.

The UV story talks about the importance of writers groups to authors who otherwise work in isolation. The mutual support helps keep an author going and the feedback helps in polishing the work. Sarah, who wrote the article, relayed my story of how eight people from my Roseburg writers group surprised me by coming to the launch party for my second book, The Shifting Winds. They had quite a drive up the Umpqua River to the little town of Elkton where I held the party. What a pleasure it was to see them walk in that day! The photo below shows them filling a table along with my friend from Elkton High School Bill Isaac.

From left to right: Arvilla and Don Newsom, Kari Clark, Heather Villa, Bill Isaac (longtime friend who’s not in the writers group but just happened to sit at this distinguished table), me standing, Wilma Mican, Emily Blakely, Dianne Carter, and Marlene Daley.

That’s friendly support! So glad UV Magazine chose to do the article about this fine group and so glad I joined them. Thanks to UV for the focus.

The magazine can be found at businesses in the Umpqua Valley, hotels, restaurants, doctor’s offices, hospital and elsewhere. And you can find them online. This brand-new edition should be up soon.

COMMENT

Alum Attention

Janet Fisher2 Comments

oregon-stater-winterMy book The Shifting Winds made the winter edition of the Oregon Stater, alumni magazine for Oregon State University graduates. That’s the magazine cover at right with the leaping OSU beaver.

They didn’t do book cover photos for the article, the way they did for A Place of Her Own a couple of years ago, or the way the U of O’s Oregon Quarterly alum magazine did for both books.

I’m one of those platypus people. I earned a bachelor’s degree from OSU and a master’s from the U of O, so I receive both alum magazines and have been recognized in both.

In this edition I’m included in a story, “Published,” on page 55 among other Oregon State graduates whose books were recently released.

Also on the list is my friend Dianne Kaye Carter from my Roseburg writers group with her new novel, Misled. Congratulations, Dianne!

And there, folks, you have ideas for that last-minute shopping trip for Christmas.

Wishing all my followers Happy Holidays and a wonderful new year. May we find peace and prosperity and hope.

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Shifting Winds Recommended

Janet Fisher4 Comments

I’m excited to announce that my new book, The Shifting Winds, has been recommended by the Oregon Quarterly, the University of Oregon alumni magazine. I just opened my Autumn 2016 edition and here it is in their “Bookmarks” section of new books by U of O alumni authors.

oregon-quarterly-bookmarks

What a delightful surprise!

My first book, A Place of Her Own, received the same recognition after its publication in 2014. I told about that in a post back then.

The Oregon Stater alum magazine recognized A Place of Her Own too, shown in another post.

I got a master’s degree in journalism from the U of O and a bachelor’s from Oregon State, making me a platypus, I guess, a cross between a duck and a beaver.

I need to keep an eye on these magazines. I’m so glad they appreciate the work.

Here’s the magazine cover of the above announcement.

COMMENT

Alum Magazine Recognition

Janet Fisher2 Comments

718.Oregon Stater Book NotesMy book got notice in the Winter 2015 issue of the Oregon Stater magazine for OSU alums.

A nice surprise when you’re thumbing through a magazine that just arrived in the mail.

I suddenly stopped turning pages. “Whoa! I know that book jacket.”

619.Oregon qtly listTook me a moment to realize it’s an earlier version of the cover with the white ribbon. I don’t know how they acquired that photo, but it’s nice to get the recognition.

I guess I’m what’s called a platypus. I was a beaver for my undergraduate work and a duck for my masters.

The U of O alum magazine, the Oregon Quarterly, gave the book recognition in their Autumn 2014 issue, shown here at right with the brown ribbon that graces the actual book.

I don’t think anyone will mistake the book, whether the ribbon’s white or brown. It’s a pretty distinctive design, thanks to the artists at Globe Pequot Press.

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In the Press

Janet Fisher

619.Oregon qtly listMartha’s book made the short list of recent books by University of Oregon alumni that “captured our imaginations,” as presented in the Autumn 2014 edition of Oregon Quarterly, the U of O magazine.

Just happened to pick it up from the pile of magazines that came while I was gallivanting off to Kansas and Missouri. Began thumbing through and there we were. Nice surprise.

618.Oregon qtly cover

 

 

 

 

The press has been good to us with big stories this summer in the Eugene and Roseburg papers.

When people came to my booth at Fort Umpqua Days in Elkton last weekend, many commented they’d read about my book in the paper, and I had to ask which one.

N-R storyThe Roseburg News-Review did a nice big story, written by Garrett Andrews with a photo by Michael Sullivan.

RG p1And the Eugene Register-Guard gave the book a huge spread, written by Randi Bjornstad with photos by Paul Carter.

Sometimes people had seen one, sometimes the other. And a few heard one of the “As It Was” segments about Martha on Jefferson Public Radio. What fun!

I’m delighted and thankful for the attention the book has received. Wouldn’t Martha be thrilled?

 

COMMENT

Martha in the Magazine

Janet Fisher

Remember the interview for the magazine article that had me so excited last spring? The one for Woodland magazine? Well, the story just came out in the summer issue of this national trade magazine of the American Forest Foundation. Here’s the broad view:

Woodland storyThat’s me on the left above the book jacket of A Place of Her Own, Martha’s story. I’m standing in the patch of 75-year-old Douglas firs my dad called “the cathedral.” That young man on the opposite page is my dad, Gene Fisher, about the time he graduated from Oregon State College (now Oregon State University). He bought the family farm from his great-uncle Cap Maupin, Martha’s oldest son, shortly after graduation. The photo in the oval is of my great-grandmother Mary, one of Cap’s sisters.

Woodlanad coverAlthough my line goes through Mary rather than Cap, my dad’s purchase kept the farm in the family and eligible for Century Farm status in 1968.

Now, in a little less than four years we’ll be eligible for Sesquicentennial status. April 2018.

The old photos of my dad and Mary are included with several old family photos in A Place of Her Own, with modern photos of the farm taken by my son-in-law Robin Loznak in another section. Robin took the photo in the cathedral for Woodland.

Exciting to have the book gain so much attention. This is a nice magazine, and writer Kathy Westra wrote a great story.

My thanks to Kathy and to the editors for featuring us.

COMMENT

The Story

Janet Fisher2 Comments

RG p1When I first told Scott Landfield about my book, A Place of Her Own, about my great-great-grandmother Martha, he suggested I contact Randi Bjornstad from the Eugene Register-Guard. As proprietor of Tsunami Books in Eugene, Scott keeps tabs on the book scene in Lane County.

Following his advice I asked my publicist from Globe Pequot to send Randi a copy of the book and a press release. I followed up with an email to Randi providing personal information about the story’s connection with Lane County, and I believe Scott contacted her as well.

I was delighted when Randi emailed me requesting an interview. But when I learned she wanted to come out to the farm and bring a photographer I began getting excited. Eugene is an hour and a half away. The Register-Guard wouldn’t send out a reporter and photographer if they didn’t plan a fair-sized story.RG p2

A husband and wife team, Randi and the photographer, Paul Carter, drove down to the farm on a pleasant, sunny day, and spent most of an afternoon with me. We walked up the hill a ways to see more of the land. As we talked, enjoying the soft warmth of the sun, sharing companionable conversation, Paul snapped a lot of pictures of the scenery, then began turning the camera toward me. And Randi took more notes. She had already interviewed me by phone.

After returning to the house to check out some of the old photos in my office, we drove down the hill to the old prune dryer for more pictures, then made our way to the cemetery where Martha rests on a hill overlooking the river.

A lovely day.

Now, it’s a thrill to see the story in today’s Sunday paper. The upper picture on this post shows the first page in print of the Guard’s “Lifestyle” section. The lower picture shows the rest of the spread from the picture to the bottom of the page. My thanks to Randi and Paul, who did such a great job on the story and photos, and thanks to Scott for pointing me to them.

COMMENT

A Mention in Register-Guard Column

Janet Fisher1 Comment

Brian Juenemann gave the book and me a mention in his June 1 column in the Eugene paper, The Register-Guard. Brian is the marketing director for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and a contributing editor for NWBookLovers.org. He writes a regular column for the Guard on the Pacific Northwest book world. He announced my signing party at Tsunami Books in Eugene on the 21st of June and evidently enjoyed my post, “Happy Discoveries,” where I shared my delight at finding A Place of Her Own in J Michaels Books in Eugene.

Thank you, Brian.

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