JANUARY 19, 2017 // 7
Have lunch with author
Laurie Frankel Jan. 31
SEASIDE — Beach Books
will welcome author Laurie
Frankel for the next Lunch
in the Loft, set for noon
Tuesday, Jan. 31. Cost is
$30 and includes a catered
lunch and signed copy of
Frankel’s newest novel,
“This Is How It Always
Is.” RSVP for reservations
to Beach Books, located at
616 Broadway, by calling
503-738-3500.
When it comes to being
different and standing
out, stories are the key to
opening minds and winning
hearts — enter Frankel’s
novel “This is How It Al-
ways Is.” From bestselling
writer Maria Semple to be-
loved librarian Nancy Pearl
to Man Booker Prize final-
ist Ruth Ozeki to Bustle to
Publishers Weekly, people
are singling out Frankel’s
novel as a breakout book,
and they’re falling for the
little girl at the center of it
all: Poppy.
When Rosie and Penn
and their four boys wel-
come the newest member
of their family, no one is
surprised it’s another baby
boy. At least their large,
loving, chaotic family
knows what to expect.
But Claude is not like his
brothers. One day he puts
on a dress and refuses to
take it off. He wants to
bring a purse to kinder-
garten. He wants hair long
enough to sit on. When he
grows up, Claude says, he
wants to be a girl.
Rosie and Penn try to
take the news in stride.
Kids go through phases,
after all, and make-believe
is fun. They’re alert teach-
ers. They do their research.
But for Poppy — as Claude
now wants to be called —
and her family, the journey
is only just the beginning.
It takes them from Wiscon-
sin to Seattle to Thailand,
and somewhere along the
way, Rosie and Penn start
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Author Laurie Frankel  will
read from her novel Jan. 31 at
Beach Books in Seaside.
to see that the fairy tale
ending doesn’t always look
the way it does in stories,
that no family conforms
perfectly to the cookie cut-
ter model, and that in many
ways, this is how it always
is: Change is always hard
and miraculous and hard
again; parenting is always
a leap into the unknown
with crossed fingers and
full hearts; children grow
but not always according
to plan. And families with
secrets don’t get to keep
them forever.
Originally from Mary-
land, Frankel lives in
Seattle, Washington. She is
the author of two previ-
ous novels, “The Atlas of
Love” and “Goodbye for
Now,” as well as a New
York Times Modern Love
column about her own
daughter, who is trans-
gender. Frankel drew on
her own experiences as
a parent to write”This Is
How It Always Is,” a novel
for anyone who has to toss
out the best laid plans in
the face of the unexpect-
ed, for anyone who finds
change both terrifying and
miraculous, and for anyone
who delights in watching
their loved ones grow and
change.
Photography exhibition follows the
Columbia River from its source to the sea
PORTLAND — The Colum-
bia River flows for over
1,200 miles, born free in the
cradle of the Rocky Moun-
tains in British Columbia.
From its humble beginnings
from a tiny spring you can
straddle, to a 2-mile wide
confluence with the Pacific
Ocean, the river flowed
for thousands of years in a
natural state of astounding
beauty. It was also the place
of a miraculous ancient
migration of Pacific salmon
that came all the way home
to the headwaters in Canada.
In his new original
exhibition, “The Colum-
bia River: From Source to
Sea,” Oregon photographer
Peter Marbach shares his
decade-long odyssey to doc-
ument the sacred landscapes
and the people of the entire
river. The exhibition opened
Jan. 13 at the Oregon Histor-
ical Society and is on view
through April 1.
“It was a challenge to sort
through all the work I have
created for this exhibit,”
Marbach said. “It is a vast,
diverse river with so many
distinct features and people
who have inspired me with
their stories. Ultimately, it
came down to which images
best represented the essence
of the project and help illu-
minate the larger story of pre-
serving this great river and
taking steps toward restoring
ancient salmons runs.”
One striking image
featured in the show is a
self-portrait of the artist. “In
December 2015, I drove the
15 hours to the headwaters
region in search of the true
source of the river,” said
Marbach. “It was bitter cold,
but I was determined to stay
until finding it. I trudged
through a mile of frozen
marsh following a creek that
was continually narrowing
until I found the spot where
the water bubbles up from
an underground spring. I
SUBMITTED PHOTO
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Wildflowers glow during last light on Dog Mountain above the
Columbia River Gorge.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Photographer Peter Marbach straddles the headwaters of the
Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada.
was overjoyed to stand there
and straddle the headwa-
ters! But it took two hours
to create a self- portrait,
waiting for a brief moment
of sunlight to illuminate the
moment of discovery.”
The exhibit will include
A friendship dance at Nation-
al Aboriginal Day in Winder-
mer, British Columbia.
a blend of riverscapes, wild-
life and portraits of people
who live along the Colum-
bia, showcasing the beauty,
culture and geographic
diversity of Nch I Wana —
The Big River.
“Having lived along the
Columbia for more than 20
years, I have a deep respect
and connection to this sacred
river,” said Marbach. “This
project only enhanced that
connection, especially getting
to know the wild and free
section of the Columbia in
British Columbia. Cradled be-
tween the Rocky Mountains
and the Purcell Range, the
unspeakable beauty fired my
imagination to wonder what
it must have been like before
the era of dams when fish
used to migrate all the way,
some 1,200 miles from the
Pacific to the headwaters.”
The Oregon Historical
Society’s museum, located
at 1200 S.W. Park Ave. in
Portland, is open seven days
a week, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Saturday
and noon to 5 p.m. Sun-
day. Admission is $11, and
discounts are available for
students, seniors and youth.
Admission is free for OHS
members and Multnomah
County residents thanks to
the renewal of the Oregon
Historical Society levy.