On Tuesday, October 1st, at the Old Church in downtown Portland, Willamette Writers welcomes local author, Gregory Nokes, who will speak to the membership about the challenges of researching obscure historical events and of contriving believable scenes in historical accounts.
Nokes, author of two recent histories of largely unknown events in the Pacific Northwest, will focus in part on the challenge writers face in obtaining accurate information about obscure historical events. Using his own writing in particular, Nokes will look at the importance of old newspapers, historical societies, museums, archives, and on-line sources, such as Wikipedia and Ancestry.com. He will also talk about finding people who should know, or might know, of particular events. For an important
section of his 2009 book, Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon (Oregon State University Press, 2009), Nokes contacted two elderly women who initially refused to talk with him, but eventually revealed information that provided the critical foundation for the book’s massacre narrative.
Massacred for Gold was rated a Top Ten book in the Pacific Northwest by The Oregonian in 2009 and is now in its third printing.
For more information about the meeting, visit WillametteWriters.com.