— 5 — RAPS club reports Book Club: ‘The White Tiger’ The RAPS Book Club will meet on Tuesday, September 15, at 1:30 p.m. at the home of Joan Shireman, 13584 SE Snowfire Dr., Happy Valley. Contact her at 503-698-9951 or jshireman@verizon.net to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss The White Tiger, written by Aravind Adiga, which was the 2008 Man Booker Prize winner. On the cover, it is described as: Balram Halwai is a complicated. Man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life—having nothing but his own wits to help him along. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn’t create virtue, and money doesn’t solve every problem—but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life it you eavesdrop on the right conversations. Amoral, irreverent, deeply endearing, and utterly contemporary, this novel is an international sensation—and a startling, provocative debut. Seven of us met in August to discuss The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. We talked about the various books read by the members of the Guernsey Literary Club and the deprivations they endured during WW II. We especially liked the decision by the author to tell the story through letters, thus providing a variety of voices and individual stories. While discussing the fact that one character in the book had read Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, we decided to read that book ourselves for October. If you want to read further ahead, we will be reading Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson, for November. —Mary Brannan Past Tense A WINNING TRADITION ENDS RAPS Bridge Group: Bids on second Tuesdays The RAPS Bridge Group meets regularly on the second Tuesday of each month. The group is open to all members of RAPS. If you would like to play or would like information about the group, please call Colin Dunkeld at 503-292-0838. —Colin Dunkeld Hikers: Headin’ up the Klickitat On Friday, Sept. 25, the hikers will walk a portion of the Klickitat Trail. The trail is a historic railroad bed running 31 miles from Lyle, Wash., up the Klickitat River and Swale Creek Canyon. We will make a sixmile round-trip hike along the Klickitat River between mileposts 16 and 13. Meet at 9:00 a.m. at the southeast corner of the Gateway Transit Center parking garage. We will carpool from there. Please confirm by Thursday, Sept. 24, with Larry Sawyer, 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net. —Larry Sawyer Wrestling has a rich tradition at Portland State. For many years, PSU boasted one of the top wrestling programs in the Pacific Northwest and a powerhouse in the Division II of the NCAA. The team was ably coached for 19 years (1952-71) by Howard Westcott. PSU’s most successful wrestler was Rick Sanders, who wrestled at 115 pounds and led his team to national prominence. As a freshman, Sanders won the NAIA gold, the first of five national freestyle championships. He took a bronze medal in the 1966 World, won the 1967 Pan-Am games, took silver in the 1967 World, and became the first American to win a world championship at his weight. He won the silver in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics. Tragically, he died in an automobile accident after the latter event. Portland State’s wrestling team won the NCAA Division II National Championships in 1969, 1989, and 1990, the latter two anchored by Dan Russell ’91 and coached by Marlin Grahn. Russell was a four-year NCAA Champion and a two-time NCAA Division I All-American. Another well-known Portland State wrestler is All-American Eddie Dahlen, who is now a mixed martial arts fighter. In 1997 the program moved up to Division I of the NCAA along with all of Portland State’s athletic programs. At that time, the wrestling program was accepted into the prestigious Pac-10 conference. Unfortunately for the state of Oregon, the PSU wrestling program was cut at the end of the 2008-09 season. Past Tense features glimpses into Portland State’s history. To submit a story (or an idea for one), e-mail the RAPS History Preservation Committee at raps@pdx.edu. Rick Sanders
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz