Fishtrap Fireside – December 2

Al Bell

Al Bell is an 81 year old retired Peace Officer. He has worked inside six prisons, two probation and parole offices, as a police officer and as an elder abuse investigator. He has begun writing a series of books called ” The Red Tail Lakes Saga” about a village located at two high mountain lakes in north eastern Oregon. The village becomes so popular they have to incorporate. Tourism is their primary source of income so they call their law enforcement officer a “Constable” and give him and his deputy a used housekeeping golf cart as a patrol vehicle. Suddenly there is an up tick in violent crime and Pete Cavanaugh, his deputy Marcella Greaves and the County Sheriff George “Silky” Stephens find themselves embroiled in shoot-outs, knife fights and all kinds of skullduggery. Al writes under the pen name, Shade Owen. He has two of the books in the can and the third and fourth sketched in. It’s a heavy lift and he is 81 so it may be a while before you find out what happens at Red Tail Lakes.

Gregg Kleiner

Gregg Kleiner grew up playing in creeks and outside various rural backwaters of Oregon. For summer vacations, his parents took their five children on extended backpacking trips around Oregon. At an early age, those trips instilled in him a love of the outdoors, wilderness, and mountains – especially the Wallowas. At age 16, he spent a year as an AFS exchange student in the mountains for northern Thailand, where he lived for a month at a Buddhist monastery under the tutelage of an aged monk. He has travelled widely, with extended stays in Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and Ecuador, as well as trips to Myanmar, China, and Cuba. In the winter of 2003, he served as the Fishtrap Writer-In-Residence, living at the head of the lake with Lori Salus, and their two children, teaching at all three high schools and getting to know the wonderful residents of Wallowa County. He and Lori now call this County home. Kleiner is the author of the novel, Where River Turns to Sky, which was a finalist for both the Paterson Fiction Prize and the Oregon Book Award, and was optioned for a feature film by Fox Searchlight. His first book for kids (and their grownups), Please Don’t Paint Our Planet Pink! asks might happen if we could see CO2 in the atmosphere if it were pink? He has worked as a wildlife biologist, journalist, visiting professor, communications professional, and dairy goat farmer. His writing has appeared in Orion, The Oregonian, The Sun, The Saturday Evening Post, Whitefish Review, Terrain, and elsewhere.