About Me

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After retirement, for two summers I worked as a tour guide at the Umpqua River Lighthouse in Oregon. This opportunity enabled me to learn more about that lighthouse than any of the others I've seen. Although I have personally visited and photographed over 300 lighthouses in the United States and three Provinces in Canada, the Umpqua River Lighthouse has special meaning for me. That Lighthouse inspired me to write two fictional books with the characters working, living, and enduring the challenges of lighthouse keeping. All pictures posted in this blog were taken by myself, unless noted otherwise.

Book Info.

I hope you will find time to enjoy my books. Preview the book covers below at the right side of page.

Book #1: "The Wickie and the Umpqua Lighthouse." Detail: "The Wickie and the Umpqua Lighthouse" is an 1860's story about the lighthouse keepers and their families at the Umpqua River Lighthouse. It will stir your emotions and warm your heart. Discover the challenges they met but never expected, and their determination to maintain navigational aid to mariners on the Oregon coast. (Wickie is a nickname used by the early lighthouse keepers at the Umpqua River Lighthouse in OR.)

Book #2: "Spirit of The Lighthouse" is a sequel to The Wickie. Detail: Jesse Fayette, assistant keeper at the Umpqua River Lighthouse, finds himself alone to operate and maintain an Oregon lighthouse after the accidental death of his head keeper. After notifying the Lighthouse Board and requesting help, he is surprised but must deal with an acquaintance, Red Saunders, who believes the lighthouse is haunted.

Book #3: "Unexpected Moments" has a different theme than those of Book #1 and #2. Detail: Dan and Megan, as well as their old friends Jim and Anna, experience unexpected moments of hardships and tragedies in Arizona and California. Will they survive these unexpected moments and find any hope for their futures?

All of my books are available on Amazon.

23 April 2015

An Oregon Beauty - Cape Blanco Lighthouse

Located at Port Orford, OR, the Cape Blanco Lighthouse's conical tower rises 59-feet above the ground. It was built in 1870 at an initial construction cost of $100,000. This money was well spent in helping to insure safe travel for the mariners  for over 140-years now.

On the morning of my visit here in 1999, the lighthouse was surrounded by heavy fog, which I think adds to the beauty of this lighthouse and created a mysterious surrounding. At that time, this lighthouse held at least four Oregon records. (1) It is the oldest continuously operating light in OR. (2) The most westerly located lighthouse in OR. (3) The highest light above the sea at 256-feet, and (4) Mable E. Bretherton signed on in 1903 as the first woman assistant keeper in Oregon.

The light in the tower was automated in 1980 by the U.S. Coast Guard. Cape Blanco has the distinction of being the only  lighthouse in Oregon with an operating Fresnel lens where visitors are allowed into the lens room. In contrast, the Umpqua River Lighthouse has an operating Fresnel lens, however visitors there are limited to climbing up inside the lens, but only to shoulder height. At the time of my visit to Cape Blanco, the Lighthouse was managed by the Bureau of Land Management and local Native American tribes.



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