Eulogy for Portland, Umbra Penumbra

My first visit to Portland was in the winter of 1996, on a book tour. It was me, novelist Peter Plate, and our then-publisher Gary Hustwit (who was doing the driving), on a West Coast tour. We started in Phoenix, where I lived, then San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene, Portland and Seattle. Bright sunshine, freezing rain, dark skies, black ice. Speeding tickets were part of the budget.

It was a tough ride; Plate was in severe back pain and wore a brace, only taking it off to perform...