Publisher's Synopsis
Growing up in Bay City Oregon is a coming-of-age historical memoir that takes place in the years between 1936 and 1953. Gordon Lee's family leaves their life behind in Nebraska to move cross country to Oregon when he is still only a small child. His father, in search of a war effort job, finds work with Kaiser Shipyard on Swan Island in Portland, Oregon where Lee attended Woodstock School. But after the war was over his father found himself out of a job, so he goes in search of one and finds it at Buel's Hardware in Tillamook, which paid $1.52 per hour, and rented the family a two-bedroom cabin to live in beside the Barview store in Barview, Oregon, along the coast. All the while, the family is just barely scraping by, so Lee sets off on an enterprising journey to make his own money from a young age, devising several moneymaking ventures just to be able to afford the basics of a real childhood. Along the way he has several adventures that some could only dream about.
In his memoir, Lee gives historical accounts of what it was like during that period of his life, as well as descriptions of places long since come and gone. He recreates the world he grew up in for those of us who will never be able to experience the same place, firsthand.
Gordon Lee's personal narrative of his earliest memories is honest and candid. His memoir starts at birth and chronicles his life growing up in Tillamook County, Oregon until he joins the marines after high school. Growing Up In Bay City Oregon: A Memoir 1936-1953 is accompanied by extensive back matter, including: Lee's occupations after growing up in Bay City, a recap of all of his moneymaking ventures he takes the reader on over the course of the book, Lee's literary background, more upcoming books by Lee in the works, a section with vignettes from Lee's life after Bay City, Lee's memorable life experiences, and a section describing the processes for peeling cascara bark and picking fox glove, both of which Lee did to earn money. There is also an acknowledgements section at the back of his memoir of people who supported its creation.
63 black & white images.
