‘GENTLE GIANT’ JUDGE
EDWIN ALLEN REMEMBERED
The death of a legendary Lane County
judge brought together the conflicting ele-
ments of the courtroom, lawyers and judges,
and their families for a moving tribute June
30 in St. Mary’s Episcopal church.
Retired from Lane County Circuit Court
in 1994, the Hon. Edwin Allen died
on June 24 at the age of 78. He
grew up in Wendling in
rural Lane County and
attended the UO for
both his undergrad-
uate and law de-
grees.
Two of his
former
law
clerks, attorney
Michael Fox
and
U.S.
District Court
Judge
Ann
Aiken, both com-
mented that Judge
Allen did not suffer
the
unprepared
gladly. “He was every
unprepared
lawyer’s
nightmare,” as Fox put it,
“but at the end of the day, you
knew you would win or lose your case for the
right reason.”
Judge Aiken called him a judge “who kept
the playing field even,” in the end “a gentle
giant.”
In a written tribute to her father, Portland
attorney Mary Beth Allen described him: “He
loved the law and his life as a judge but was
never far from his roots. His honesty, sense of
justice and civic responsibility, and loyalty to
friends and family were forged in the tight-
knit community of a company logging town.
He loved to describe himself as just a boy
from Wendling, and kept in touch with child-
hood friends until the end.”
The service closed with songs by Cole
Porter. — AJ
PEG MORTON RETURNS
FROM FEDERAL PRISON
Eugene peace activist Peg Morton is back
in Eugene after serving three months in fed-
eral prison following her arrest for an act
of non-violent civil disobedience at
the former Army School of the
Americas. She and fellow
prisoner Leisa Barnes ar-
rived home by train the
afternoon of July 6.
Morton, 73, was in-
carcerated with 250
other women at a
low-security facility
at Camp Parks in
Dublin, Calif., and
kept a journal of her
experiences there.
“How do we live to-
gether without explod-
ing or dissolving?” she
wrote. “I am amazed by
the strength, the wisdom,
compassion,
flexibility,
healthy assertiveness and humor
of many of these women. I am chal-
lenged and taught: ‘You learn to sleep
through anything — bright lights, noise.’
With laughter, talk and lights on a woman
will turn away, cover herself up, and go to
sleep.”
“Women kid each other mercilessly,” she
wrote. “They goad me to utter a swear word.
I do, and they pounce, laughing. Swearing is
rampant, a part of the lingo of many.”
Morton said health services at the prison
are “abominable.” She wrote, “A woman
with high blood pressure is out of her pills,
for days and days, suffering from a severe
headache. Another fails to receive a regular,
• Let’s take a break from our customary ranting and righteous indignation and rec-
ognize what a stupendous summer it’s turning out to be in Eugene. Time to get
out of the house and do stuff. The ongoing Bach Festival is stunning this year,
even sans Quasthoff. Art and the Vineyard/Freedom Festival was a marvelous
community event, pumping fistfulls of cash into the hands of struggling artists.
The Oregon Country Fair this coming weekend is evolving past its hippy schtick to
become an unparalleled cultural, artistic and educational extravaganza. The
Hempfest in Blue River the following weekend should be a blast, and Springfield’s
Filbert Festival is returning Aug. 6-8 at Island Park. The coast is gorgeous and the
mountains are beckoning. Let’s soak it all up.
• One local artist and craftsperson missing this year from Art and the Vineyard
and the Oregon Country Fair is Chris Gum, 51, who died June 30. Friends of the
Springfield potter tell us he was an exceptional artist who sold his creations at
numerous Northwest craft fairs and his “creative touch and sharp opinions will
truly be missed by those who knew him and those who appreciated his sense of
color and form.” Major Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
• A promising breakfast conversation has been happening monthly in Eugene for
the past year. Brought together by the Metro Partnership and 1000 Friends of
Oregon, Jack Roberts and Rob Zako, 16 citizens of often deeply conflicting politi-
cal perspectives are talking to each other and even reaching consensus about
thorny local issues. First product was a letter to the mayor and council asking that
the city move forward on lands inventories to develop high-quality land use plan-
ning and bring certainty to landowners. Specifically, this means supporting inven-
tories on commercial and industrial lands and completing the long overdue natural
resources study. Next discussion? Maybe transportation, including the West
Eugene Parkway, or housing trends, including the shortage of low-cost housing, or
elitism in Eugene, or some other contentious topic. Participants, who are on their
own and not representing any organizations or employers, are: Rob Bennett, Jim
Croteau, Rick Duncan, Pat Fagan, David Funk, Gerry Gaydos, Sandy Halonen, Anita
8 JULY 8, 2004
medically ordered test, for months. A joke
goes around: You can tell how long a woman
has been in by the number of teeth she has
lost. They just pull teeth rather than fill
them.”
Morton will give a report on her experi-
ences at 7 pm Tuesday, July 13 at Harris Hall.
— TJT
Riverfront Research Park. Opponents have
voiced concerns that the road would damage
the riverfront area by further cutting off
downtown from the river, and enabling the
construction of large commercial buildings
and parking lots in a natural area that should
be preserved for parkland (see EW news story
6/24 and follow-up news brief 7/1).
COUNCIL TO GATHER
INPUT ON RIVERFRONT
HEMPFEST FINDS NEW
LOCATION UP THE CREEK
A public hearing on plans for a new road
along the Willamette River to serve the pro-
posed new hospital site near EWEB has been
scheduled for 7:30 pm Monday, July 12 at the
City Council Chambers.
The new road is proposed for the north
side of the railroad tracks west from the
Hempfest organizers have found a new
location for their annual free shindig in cele-
bration of the much-maligned plant. The sec-
ond annual Emerald Empire Hempfest com-
ing up the weekend of July 17-18 will be held
at Bittersweet Campground at milepost 43 on
McKenzie Highway near Blue River.
Johnson, Steve Korth, Kevin Matthews, Bob O’Brien, Kitty Piercy, Rusty Rexius,
Jack Roberts, John VanLandingham, and Rob Zako.
• John Edwards as Kerry’s running mate? Excellent choice. Edwards is an eloquent
populist with humble roots, and he’s a trial lawyer not afraid to take on big corpo-
rations. The choice also shows that Kerry, unlike Bush, doesn’t need an old war-
horse like Cheney to pull his strings and cover his butt.
• Readers tell us Robert Moore Information in Portland is conducting a telephone poll
of Eugene residents. Questions? What is the most important issue facing Eugene?
How would you rank issues in terms of importance: quality of schools; city services;
affordable housing; economic development; WEP and the environment? How would you
rate the following people: Nancy Nathanson, Jeff Miller, Jack Roberts, Bonny Bettman,
Jan Clements, Kitty Piercy and Jim Torrey? It asks “Who did you vote for in the May
mayoral primary?” And “In the November mayoral election with only Kitty Piercy list-
ed but the names above as possible write-ins, who would you vote for?” The survey
asks about the influence of possible mayoral candidate endorsers, such as the Lane
County Home Builders Association and Friends of Eugene (which doesn’t do endorse-
ments). And the survey asks slanted questions about candidate positions, such as
increasing regulation and the cost of doing business; maintaining the UGB and
increasing the cost of housing, stopping the WEP, using public funds to support urban
development, etc. Who’s behind this spendy survey? Somebody with bucks to burn
eyeing a write-in campaign in November.
• The Pentagon is busy extending enlistments, recalling former active troops and mobi-
lizing more National Guard units and reservists. Is a return to the draft next? It would
be political disaster for Bush and Congress to reinstate conscription before the
November elections. But if Bush/Cheney are re-elected in November (“Four More Wars”
would be a good GOP campaign slogan), then we have something to worry about.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard
any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519,