Coastal Book Bin: 3 Books to Read

Enter the world of an Oregon Coast commercial fisherman in Terry Evers’ memoir, Fifteen Seasons.

Published by Dancing Moon Press in 2022, the book chronicles Terry Evers’ commercial salmon fishing adventures with his father aboard a dory boat along the central Oregon Coast from 1977-1991. Evers describes his memoir as thus: “A school textbook salesman buys a commercial salmon dory boat and takes his 13-year-old son out on the cold Pacific Ocean waters off the Oregon Coast for an entire summer. What could possibly go wrong?”

According to Evers, quite a lot. Readers can expect a real-life account of the difficulties involved with commercial fishing, along with the people, culture, and lingo that goes with Oregon coast salmon fishing. Throughout it all, Evers depicts the deep bonds that develop between father and son.

On November 11, Terry will read from his memoir at the Cannon Beach Library: Northwest Author Speaker Series. Books will be available for purchase at the event. The book may also be purchased on Amazon for $16.95.

EXCERPT from FIFTEEN SEASONS:
While fishing offshore of Beaver Creek, which is a beautiful non-tidally influenced waterway that shallowly bleeds into the sea, we trolled the 30-fathom line in calm seas under a partly cloudy sky. The silvers were biting in spurts and we pulled in 20 for the day. Better yet were the two large chinooks that we boated that each weighed in at 15 pounds after being dressed out. We had started running hoochie-flasher rigs down deep, and it paid off.

The highlight of that day though was our first halibut. The 30-fathom line was not known as the halibut hotspot as the prized flatfish were more commonly found several miles offshore at The Rockpile, The High Spot, and the Heceta Banks. Nevertheless, one of our deep springs started bouncing and stretching, but as it stretched out in chinook-like gyrations, there were some weird vibrations mixed in.

“Dad. Check out my deep spring. Something big is down there!” I shouted.

“It could be a big king but look at how it’s vibrating. I’m wondering if we have a blue shark?” Dad wondered.

“Man, this thing is pumping on the davit hard,” I reported.

“Let me know how I can help,” Dad said as he kept the boat on a steady course.

Many of us have experienced seaweed, either as an elusive and ethereal mass floating in the ocean, or as a lump, possibly gelatinous or dried while onshore. What we don’t often see are the individual details and beauty of seaweeds. An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed, by Josie Iselin, is both a primer on understanding the science of seaweed, along with the art of seaweed. Iselin’s book contains hundreds of color images of seaweed that she collected, along with some from scientific collections, and even some from grocery stores.

In the book, Iselin writes about the basics of seaweed, ways to classify seaweed, and describes more than 50 species in both words and images. Readers will also discover the history of seaweed as food, and how some people—including the “Mother of the Sea” and the “pudding boys”—changed how and what we eat.

Produced on a flatbed scanner, Iselin’s vibrant depictions of seaweed reveal the exquisite color and extraordinary forms of specimens gathered from tidal pools along the California and Maine coasts. Although Iselin did not collect any specimens in Oregon, Oregon coast beachcombers will recognize many of the seaweeds covered in the book.

Josie Iselin is a photographer, writer, and book designer with six previous books to her credit, including Beach Stones and The Curious World of Seaweed. Her writing and art focusing on seaweed and kelp has put her at the forefront of ocean activism, collaborating with scientists and environmental groups working to preserve the kelp forests of the Pacific Coast.

An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed, is published by Oregon State University Press. Now available in paperback, the book is $24.95 in bookstores or at OSU Press.

EXCERPT from AN OCEAN GARDEN:

Sea Palm
Postelsia palmaeformis grows only on the most exposed sections of the northern Pacific coast, from the northern tip of Vancouver Island down to San Luis Obispo in central California. Standing on the cliffs at Salt Point in Mendocino County, the small forests of palm tree–shaped algae can be seen on the wave-drenched rocks wrenched from the coast many eons ago. Bowing until prostrate under the crushing surf and popping upright as the white foam retreats, these seaweeds are examples of the strength, flexibility, and resilience that characterize seaweed in general and are so foreign to what we know on land.

But how does a species reproduce in such an extreme environment? Like many seaweeds, Postelsia is an annual; it goes through alternating generations in a complex life cycle that lasts just a single year. Its spores are held within the grooves of the blades. Knowing when the tide is low, these grooves direct the spores to drip down from the hanging blades onto the rock or mussels at the base of the parent. Spores are liberated in a mucilage made up primarily of polysaccharides. This sugary substance sticks to the substrate and quickly cures into a rubbery bonding agent, keeping the spores from being washed to sea.

With the spores deposited in such close proximity to the source, a clump of Postelsia is a tightly bred family. Space is created where the parent dies and is washed away, leaving an opening for the new Postelsia to take hold.

MORE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

For more recommendations, check out these articles about books:

A Bevy of Books: Curry Mammals On the Hoof, Storm Beat, & Cascade Head

Coastal Books Bonanza: Lighthouses, Highway 101 & Pacific Islands

Coastal Book Bonanza: Coastal carvings, local oddities, an “Indian country” mystery, and the story of how Oregon’s beaches became a public right.

Reviews compiled by staff and published online exclusively for Oregon Coast magazine on September 28, 2023.