—5— RAPS club reports RAPS invites youtowrite your own versionof PortlandState history More than 10 years ago, the late Gordon Dodds wrote The College That Would Not Die: The First Fifty Years of Portland State University. Now it’s your turn to tell your stories about Portland State’s history. As Past President Bob Tufts related in his last “President’s Message” in the June issue of RAPS Sheet, discussions among the RAPS Board of Directors led to an intriguing method of preserving PSU history: asking you to tell your Portland State story. What were the noteworthy events during your professional career? What were your contributions? What happened, why did it happen, when did it happen, and how did it happen? And don’t forget to answer the most important question, who was involved? Names, as they say in the news business, make news. Please consider writing your piece of Portland State history and sending it to the RAPS Office. It can be e-mailed to raps@pdx.eduor mailed to RAPS Office, Koinonia House, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland OR 97207-0751. Book Club: Votes for ‘Yiddish Policemen’s Union’ Mary Brannan will host the RAPS Book Club on Sept. 16 at her home at 6901 SE Oaks Park Way, Slip No. 13, Portland. Contact her at brannanmg@comcast.net or 503-239-1077 to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, written by Michael Chabon, a Pulitzer Prize winner. This novel is described on the cover: For sixty years, Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a “temporary” safe haven created in the wake of revelations of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant, gritty, soulful, and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the district is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end. Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder—right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, hopefulness, evil, and salvation that are his heritage. The assignment for the book group for August was to read mystery novels and recommend one or more to others in the group. Seven women met at the home of Joan Shireman on Aug. 19 for a lively discussion of mysteries. More than one recommended books by Northwest writers, including Kate Wilhelm, whose detective is a woman attorney in Eugene; M.K. Wren, whose stories take place in Depoe Bay; Elizabeth Atwood Taylor, who wrote The Northwest Murders, set in Oregon; and J.A. Jance, who wrote Long Time Gone, set in Seattle. Several readers enjoyed Iain Pears’s The Immaculate Deception and Donna Leon’s Death at La Fenice, both set in Venice, Italy; books by Nevada Barr, whose detective is a national park ranger; and John LeCarre’s spy stories. One liked Elizabeth George’s books because of the complex plots and numerous characters, while another did not for the same reason. Hikers: InvestigatenewstateparkSept. 26 RAPS Hikers’ last summer hike of the year will be in “Stub” Stewart State Park on Sept. 26. Stewart, located near Vernonia on the old Banks-to-Vernonia rail line, is Oregon’s newest full service park. Hikers will walk park trails; there will be little elevation gain or loss. Bring a sack lunch to eat at one of the picnic areas. We will meet at 9:00 a.m. at the Cedar Hills Shopping Center near the Harbor Freight Tools store and carpool from there. This is the smaller shopping center on Parkway at Highways 26 and 217; do not confuse it with the Cedar Hills Crossing farther south on Cedar Hills Boulevard. Please confirm your participation by Thursday, Sept. 25, to Larry Sawyer, 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net. —Larry Sawyer Bridge Group: Deals Sept. 9 The RAPS Bridge Group will meet at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Willamette View. For information about the Bridge Group, please call Colin Dunkeld at 503-292-0838 or e-mail him at colinkeld@gmail.com. —Colin Dunkeld
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