About Me
The Assiduous Gumshoe
I'm a lifelong Oregonian, born in Lincoln City and raised in The Dalles, with summers spent in Bandon along the Oregon coast. My heritage includes Swedish, Finnish, English, and Scottish roots, which means I struggle with spicy food but excel at deciphering IKEA instructions. Many of my close family members live in Oregon and Washington, but we have deep roots in Michigan, Missouri, and Kansas. I moved to Portland in 1996 and have since experienced living in all five quadrants of the city.
Nehalem,
Oregon
1984
I’ve always been fascinated by Oregon history—an interest that was nurtured by my Great Uncle Don, an amateur photographer and avid journal-keeper who chronicled the lives of timber workers on the coast. He and I were a couple of “creative types” born into a family of athletes. Whenever the conversation turned to sports at a family gathering, he and I would peel off and watch his old 8mm films of Portland or visit his garage/darkroom to behold his latest photo developing trick. He encouraged me to take a camera everywhere I went (way before it was cool), and thankfully I heeded his advice. I have stacks of Brownie camera prints to prove it.
Lincoln City,
Oregon
1974
As I got older, my penchant for visual communication led me to a career in marketing. I’ve had the pleasure of working with educators, musicians, photographers, civic leaders, and healers, and I learned a lot about a wide variety of disciplines. I also found ways to use technology to make life easier. When I worked at Portland State University, I provided one-on-one technology training, managed digital photo libraries, and oversaw scanning and archiving projects. Before that, I owned a small business where I sourced and sold vintage clothing and home goods. That job took me to many family estates where I navigated around dark, dusty basements to clean and organize things that hadn’t seen the light of day in years.
Portland, Oregon 2010
Photo: Adrienne So, Cool Hunting
I had looked into my own family’s backstory in the past, but I started digging in with more enthusiasm after some frank conversations with my parents about their memories from childhood. As members of the silent generation, they’ve always been pretty tight-lipped about their pasts. Once I realized how little I actually knew, my job grew in scope from amateur tree-builder to official family biographer. I used creative research techniques to dig deeper into my family’s history, and it quite literally shifted the narrative of my entire life.
Seattle,
Washington
1946
When I told friends and co-workers I was doing family history research, they started asking me “look into something” for them. And I did. Over and over again. And I loved every minute of it. So I decided to do it all the time. Now I sit in dusty libraries and do things like confirm critical information, research cold cases, immortalize family images, and track down childhood homes. It’s honestly my version of heaven.