(y The Clackamas Print
Wednesday, May. 1-6, 2012
aced@clackamas.
.äuArt(>£ulture
Killer bread
maker shows how
not to go a-rye
By Patrick Q uinn
The Clackamas Print
Dahl was born into a family
of bakers in Portland. Ip spite ,
of his self-admitted, colorful
and dark past, baked, goods
would be a part of his destiny.
It would require traveling a
long, painful road of self-dis
covery before this man could
finally return to his roots. His
was an adolescence marked
by depression, alienation, and
experimentation with drugs ’
and alcohol.
£ Interests in guitar and
physical fitness were his sole
“saving graces” during this
time. These alone would
prove to be inadequate tools-
in beating back the thoughts
of suicide that plagued Dahl
in his teenage years. Instead of
things getting better after high
school, as it does for some
troubled teenagers, being alive
would only become more dif
ficult for him.
The middle chunk of
Dahl’s life was a litany of
excessive drug use,' violent
encounters with law enforce
m ent*. and incarceration.
Ending up on parole, he was
constantly in pursuit .of the,
former and avoiding the latter.
The story of the man behind
the greatest bread ever made is-'f
darker and seedier than any
slice o f rye could ever hope
to be. •
On Tuesday, May 8, local
bread guru Dave Dahl (usually
just called “Dave” by associ--
ates), founder and namesake
of Dave's Killer Bread, spoke
to a crowd of adoring 'bread
fans in Gregory Forum. His
was a true’ story about drug
addiction, prison sentences,-
finding oneself, small busi
ness management and how to
change the world, one loaf of
bread at a time.
The mustached man play
ing guitar on the bread bag
isn't shy about his checkered
past. H islocajlyadored prod
uct comes complete with a
shockingly true description of
himself as a “four-time loser”
who was “in the wrong game”
for many, many years. Dahl
has lived in and out o f prison
for the better part of his life.
His. story is presented with
stark reinty’o n th e Back’ o f a T h e story in his ow n w ords
Daves Killer Bread founder D ave Dahl, right, shares his trials an d successes in Gregory Forum
M ay 8. To his left is L add Justesen, executive assistant o f the M ilw aukie company.
could return to his roots as a
crafter of artisan bread.
D esp im ^ n a v in g ~ m e m b ir
mSteriaT“ worth "publ’ishihg’
detailand insight into the life many times over, Dahl doesn’t
of a real-life drug fiend, It tells use his remarkable life stoiv
of a deeply troubled man who as some cheap ploy to sell
shoots speed in the basement bread. By dis accounts this is
o f the family bakery, commits a man reformed and reborn,
grand theft auto and practices a man who walks every bit of
his talk, and it- shows in his
armed robberies.
Dahl’s participation in business practices and his pub
f P ortland’s ■ m etham phet lic appearances. In person, he
amine explosion of the 1990s, does in fact resemble his. like
included claims o f police ness on the bags of bread, save
brutality, concealed weapons for the mustache (gone). His
and pounds o f drugs. A long stature and musculature would
sentence in a federal prison, make him a terrifying sight
antidepressants and plenty of were he armed with a .380
brutally-honest introspection semi-automatic and amphet
were in order before Dahl amine psychosis, but he speaks
-Uieacl"iuag iw ■aH’ iire' wuild1 rer ■■"provide!» 1 n grueling
see,-albeit in brief.
A video presented at the
event in Gregory Forum f
along with the missive on
the company website (Dahl’s
.Story, available in video, PDF
and plain text formats), delves
further into the life of Dahl
before the days of Killer Bread
and reads like the memoirs o f
a Hell’s Angel, with a hap
pier ending. It’s the tale of a
freewheeling career criminal
without remorse or the abil
ity to learn from his mistakes,
who experiences humility and
reform.
with an earnestness and seren
ity of mind one would expect
from a Buddhist monk?
'D ahl "seems to" be’ com
pletely and totally confident
in his personal transformation
and the potential for others
like him to transform as well.
Roughly a third of those under
his employ are ex-felons like
himself, which means his man
agement position, as he admit
ted during the question-and-
answer period, comes with
“some additional difficulties”
-(subdued laughter from audi
ence). Still, he surrounds him
self with the reformed and
the reborn, and the company
has received numerous awards
for its practice of giving the
1
incarcerated another shot at a
healthy life by making healthy
food.
' ' Dahl further’ expressed His
generosity by hurling compli
mentary loaves of bread like
whole-wheat footballs toward
those members of the audience
brave enough to .ask a ques
tion. Despite the arduous and
agonizing route he took to get
where he is today, Dahl has
no regrets about his paSk^Ip
fact, he probably wouldn't be
making any of his most killer
of baked goods if he hadn't
endured a life qf, prolonged
hardship and suffering. I t even
says -so on the back of the bag.
Wildman: Bigfoot may just be another mossy tree trunk
By Isaac Soper
Arts & Culture Editor
Bigfoot has been discov
ered. There, I hooked you.
Many people claim to have
seen the elusive beast, but
other than seeing lookalikes in
films such as “Harry and the
Hendersons,” a true Sasquatch
has never been located, even
with fanatics and some scien
tists looking for one full-time.
Let’s go through a scenario:
you’re driving, your car down
the Molalla corridor not pay
ing too much attention to the
road ahead; I understand, you
want to change the song on
your iPod to “Union Hall”
by Foreign Born. W hat can I
say? I get it. So you’re playing
around with that stupid little
scroll-wheel when you look
up and see something on the
side of the road in the woods.
What could it have been? It
was big, you know that for
sure. Could it have been a bear
or perhaps a mossy tree? No,
if- was s’o mething so incredible
that no one will believe you:-if
was a Sasquatch, it had to have
been. Or that’s what you want
to believe.
Having something to believe
in is a part of human nature,
but why Bigfoot?' I mean sure,
cryptozoology has its merits.
It’s fun, and mythical beasts
are cool. I’ve played Pokemon
before, but that-doesn’t, mean
that Charizardsare real.
I Sasquatch, also called a
Bigfoot, is a large hairy biped
that supposedly lives in wood
ed areas, with most- of the
thousands of claimed sightings
being in the Pacific Northwest
(the creature is known as the
yeti or abominable snowman
m the Himalayas)TThough
most . scientists
tonsider
Bigfoot to be more of a myth
or hoax, many believe in the
notion that the animal is real,
and that, it may be the direct
link between, humans and
■ apes. There is even a'television
show on Animal Planet Called
.“Finding Bigfoot.” Even with
Animal Planet and its team
of crackpot scientists or what
ever those howling folks con
sider themselves to be, there
is still no proof of whether a
Sasquatch;-actually exists —
I’m sure you can guess how the
show goes. -
Some of the ideas behind
Sasquatch are interesting, such
as the fact that North America
is the only continent to have no
apes whatsoever, which makes
one ponder the idea. Many
of Earth’s animals have yet to
be discovered, but you would
think that an animal that size,
wouldn’t have many predatory
in which case you would think
their-numbers would abound.
Maybe this Sasquatch isjust a
family b f'rlally h airy people.
That would explain the low
numbers. I know a guy who
could take the mantle of yeti if
he wanted to.
For me, I don’t believe that
I am descended from an ape,
although there may be a direct
link between me and Mr. Yeti,'
especially if he is a hairy man
or some guy in an ape suit,
hell, maybe he’s my uncle!
Preferably, when I hear about
people seeing Bigfoot or doing
ridiculous Bigfoot- howls, it
makes me chuckle. At the same
time Tt* gives me hope that
one day, Chewbacca will pop
out of the. woods, and then
I’ll discover that Star Wars is
real, at which point in time, I
will fly off: in the Millennium
Falcon. T h at' would be cool,
and is probably just as likely as
actual proof of Bigfoot being
discovered.
Whether or not you believe
in Bigfoot, it I doesn’t really
matter. If . you do, howl at
the moon and searchfor him
until your heart’s content, if
you don’t believe in the hairy
guy, crack open a cold one and
get a good laugh at “Finding
Bigfoot,’’Ton Sundays at 10
p.m. on Animal Planet.