Yachats Lions Hall, Doors open at 130p and starts at 200p
Rescheduled from last year’s series we are pleased to have Joe Blakely speaking to us about three of his books that are relevant to our community. Two books focus on the Building of Oregon’s Coast Highway and the other focuses on the Eugene Saturday Market which is the oldest outdoor crafts market in the nation. He will be joined by his son Justin, now 52, who was born with Cerebral Palsy and will be his photographer at the event.
Joe Blakely is an Oregon writer that has been writing for 23 years and has written 18 books about Oregon. These books are about history, including the Oregon Coast, as well as novels. Joe even edited a book about Sasquatch. His books have been cited on TV, radio, newspapers, and state magazines. He is a longtime Eugene resident and worked at the UO in the Office of Public Safety for 14 years.
Lifting Oregon Out of the Mud: Building the Oregon Coast Highway
Oswald West, Oregon’s rascally one-term governor, wrote historic legislation in 1913 that set aside Oregon’s beaches as Oregon’s first coast highway. By 1919, building began in earnest and moved the highway east of the beaches and punched it through four hundred miles of the most rugged and remote terrain on the continent. This breathtaking story concludes in 1936 with an array of five stunning bridges designed by Oregon’s premier architect, Conde B. McCullough and resulted in creating one of the most spectacular coastal highways in the world.
Building Oregon’s Coast Highway 1936-1966: Straightening Curves and Uncorking Bottlenecks
From the devastating 1936 fire in Bandon, Oregon to the building of the Columbia River Bridge in 1966 this story charts the epic journey of building Oregon’s spectacular coast highway across a steep basalt cliff, through Arch Cape, bridging Thomas Creek gorge and leveling mountains. When finished the highway had closed the last gap in U.S. Highway 101 from the Canadian border to Mexico.
The Saturday Market Challenge: Confessions of an 84-year-old Oregon Author
Author Joe Blakely dared himself to sell 2023 books in the year 2023. For a self-published author it was a near impossible mission. You’ll visit Eugene’s Saturday Market as never before and meet its extraordinary crafts people, including Frog who takes on Goliath and wins and Robb who overcomes a paralyzed left side to create his own business. Part memoir, Saturday Market history, and a race against time.
Joe’s books can be found on Amazon
