Boyhood Among the Woolies: Growing Up on a Basque Sheep Ranch
Richard W. Etulain
Basalt Books: 2023
The author recounts his early childhood on a remote Eastern Washington ranch, reminiscing about the roles of his “saintly” mother and “faraway Basque dad.” In 1921, when he was in his late teens, Sebastian Etulain emigrated from Spain, joining his two older brothers in the Yakima Valley to herd sheep. Through his work ethic and luck of an inheritance, he transitioned from herder to owner, operating a 10,000-acre ranch with some 7,000 to 8,000 sheep and three rambunctious boys. The youngest, Richard “Dick” Etulain, a retired history professor now in his 80s, tells of his first decade, splitting time between chores on the ranch 20 miles southeast of Ritzville and summers at the family’s second home in Saint Maries, Idaho, in the 1940s.
Brave as Thistles
Lauri Cruver Cherian ’86 Ed.
BookBaby: 2023
Inspired by travels through the Scottish Highlands, this book of poetry is a call to bravery amid the difficulties and messiness of life. Poems explore loss, grief, illness, and anxiety along with gratitude, new beginnings, and flourishing—like the tenacious thistle.
The Spirit within us…
Jack Greeson ’82 PhD Ed.
Palmetto Publishing: 2022
Retired Texas psychologist Jack Greeson worked part-time throughout the course of three decades on this passion project, producing a work of historical fiction that imagines generations of his ancestors from Norway in 1420 to Ohio in 1820.
Getting Elected Is the Easy Part: Working and Winning in the State Legislature
Karen Keiser
Basalt Books: 2023
Washington state senator Karen Keiser blends research with her personal experiences and observations to help newly elected state legislators learn how to succeed and achieve real change. Keiser, a legislator since 1995, offers practical advice for anyone interested in state government.