"All five of my books are dang good reading."
-— Sid Spurgeon
Rivers, Pickups and Friends
Three friends—Tim, Bob, and Gary—grow up together in Pendleton, Oregon. They go to college, come home, get jobs, marry, and raise kids. Instead of sports, they bond over steelhead fishing in the Umatilla River.
Tim’s daughter Sarah becomes a U.S. Forest Service smokejumper. Sassy. Capable. Tough.
When the men reach retirement age, one of them has to be the first to die. Bob’s story is sad, but he’s surrounded by good friends and a compassionate wife. They make sure he isn’t alone.
Bob’s story is not a test of friendship. It is an affirmation.
“Anyone can fall in love, but you need to like the person if you’re going to spend your life with them.”
Hard Times, Good People
The Great Depression. Homer and Ella Dickinson lose jobs, lose homes, relocate six times, and bury two children.
As the Depression ends, Homer finds work on the railroad in Pendleton. Their son George trains as a paratrooper for the 82nd Airborne and parachutes into France on D-Day. He survives.
George returns home and marries Sulema, a young woman from the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Both families support the mixed-race marriage and shut down the whispers.
Ella is the family’s rock. Her motto: “God loves you, so do I.”
The Haunted Executioner
Too much murder. The public demands changes to the Constitution—starting with the Eighth Amendment ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Eliminate a few words. Bring untold bloodshed.
The new rules are automatic. The punishment is severe.
A Family Rescue
The Dickinson family moves to Pendleton in the 1930s. They survive the Depression. They thrive.
Decades later, two brothers—Grant and David—are messing up their lives. Their mother admits she shouldn’t have been a parent. The boys look headed for disaster.
George, now 82, says: “I won’t quit on those two grandsons of mine.”
The family takes over. They rescue the boys. Grant becomes a Marine Captain. David becomes a Detroit Tigers shortstop.