12
MIXED MEDIUM
JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 2, 2022
THE ARTS AROUND
EASTERN OREGON
Fishtrap Fireside features three Wallowa writers
Go! staff
E
NTERPRISE — The Febru-
ary episode of Fishtrap
Fireside goes live Friday, Feb. 4,
with readings from three Wal-
lowa County writers: longtime
Fishtrap friend Rick Bombaci,
retired health professional
Kathy “Kat” Johnson and poet
Katherine Marrone.
Anyone anywhere can take
in Fireside online at www.
fishtrap.org and on Fishtrap’s
YouTube Channel.
Fishtrap Fireside is a monthly
reading series designed to
feature diverse voices from local
Wallowa County writers. Each
month offers a fresh look at what
people of the West are thinking
about and writing down.
February’s Fishtrap Fireside is
sponsored by Wild Carrot Herb-
als, a Wallowa County-based
skin care company making hon-
est, nutrient-rich products for
the entire family.
FEATURED READERS
Rick Bombaci grew up in rural
Rick Bombaci
Kat Johnson
Katherine Marrone
Connecticut. After a brief stint
living and working in Portland
— when, for $125 a month, you
could rent a nice apartment with
hardwood floors and a view of
Mt. St. Helens before it blew up
— he moved to Wallowa County,
where he’s been more or less
stuck ever since.
While here, Rick has worked,
in order, as a USFS wilderness
ranger, a waiter, a bicycle me-
chanic, a high school teacher,
a computer consultant, a grant
writer, a nonprofit consultant, an
executive director and a USFS
wilderness ranger. That’s known
as either completing the circle
or spinning your wheels. He has
one daughter that he knows of,
and a number of obsessions,
including long-distance hiking
and a grandson.
Kathleen “Kat” Johnson was
born and raised in Colorado.
After earning a B.S. in English
she taught fourth grade for a
time but quit to become a stay
at home mom and follow her
first husband as his career took
them to New Jersey, California,
Georgia and Massachusetts be-
fore choosing to make Oregon
home. Kat has been a substi-
tute teacher, library aide, Scout
leader, EMT and companion to
cats, dogs, ducks, goats and
horses. In her 30s, she began
a new career as a registered
nurse starting in critical care
but eventually specializing in
geriatrics, geriatric psychiatry
and dementia care.
After more than 30 years,
finding herself happily retired
but not so happily widowed, she
decided to begin a new chapter
of her life by joining her daugh-
ter, Fishtrap Executive Director
Shannon McNerney, in Wallowa
County. She is grateful for the
kindness of the community and
awestruck by the majesty of the
landscape. She never tires of
watching the deer and quail that
visit her yard. Thanks to Fishtrap,
she is rediscovering the joy of
diving in and playing with words.
11am-8pm Tuesday-Saturday
Katherine Marrone is a writer,
activist and editor of Fishtrap’s
community zine, Circle of Sea-
sons. She works as a legal advo-
cate at Safe Harbors in Enter-
prise where she helps survivors
of domestic/sexual violence and
stalking seek justice and safety
in Wallowa County. Having spent
periods of her childhood in New
York City, Italy and Eastern Ore-
gon, Katherine developed a love
for examining the relationship
between experience and iden-
tity. Her poems and essays ex-
plore gender, human rights and
empathy, the meandering path
of healing after trauma, finding
pockets of joy in the mundane,
traveling alone as a woman, and
her obsession with the question:
How and who do we love — and
why? Her work can be found in
the sex and relationships advice
column she created in college
called “Pillow Talk”— in which
she answered questions about
consent and healthy relation-
ships — and in the international
feminist publication Bitch Media,
where she explored the state of
sex education in the U.S. today
and the connection between
violence and gender roles.
After freelancing for Bitch,
Katherine volunteered at a
juvenile detention center in
Portland, where she facilitated
a writing workshop with youth.
It was there that she realized
the transformative power of
space: the space to tell one’s
story — and the space to trust
that someone will listen. Kath-
erine is grateful to grow and
live within such a creative and
supportive community.