OKANOGAN POEMS volume 3 Landscapes Are Observatories Poetry, Anthologies, 50 poems, 100 pages with sketches, photos and map. A Collection of eighteen poets: Julie Ashmore, George Baumgardner, Patti Baumgardner, Katharine Bill, Reed Engle, Bob Goodwin, Walter Henze, Dan Hulphers, Carey Hunter, Grant Jones, Victoria Jones, Mike Robinson, Roger Rosenblatt, William Slusher, Kathleen Smith, Dale Swedberg, Todd Thorn, and Sandy Vaughn. This, the third volume of Okanogan Poems continues the tradition, established with the first two volumes, of celebrating hidden places in the watershed of the Okanogan River. It does that because the co-editor, Grant Jones, both a published poet and world renowned landscape architect, has come to this understanding with the wisdom of his years: by celebrating places we can influence their outcome. The Okanogan Valley and its Eastern Highlands, a rural self sufficient region of high desert, lies in North Central Washington, in Okanogan County - the largest county in Washington and one of the largest in the lower 48 states. The valley is well east of the Puget Sound megalopolis and the North Cascades. It is a magical place. These poems are a celebration of not only the land, but also the peoples of the region. Walter Henze Co-Editor All of these watersheds are alive with touchstone people: traditional native people of dozens of Native American tribes and First People bands, pioneer homesteaders, horse and cattle ranchers, enterprising town founders, fruit orchardists, vintners, organic farmers, carpenters, mountain hermits, poets, folk singers and those who just came to live on the land as landscape stewards. This place has not lost its stories nor its spirits, and they keep evolving. It supports a rare, interconnected community of diverse people committed to hard work, cooperation, artistic expression and social tolerance. Grant Jones Co-Editor The Okanogan Land Trust has been encouraging poetry of this place for eight years by hosting an annual Poetry Evening of readings by local poets. A number of the poems in this volume first appeared here. Poems are from the Similkameen, the Kettle, the Sanpoil, the Okanogan, the Methow, and the Chief Joseph-Columbia and celebrate the nature of the American Okanogan, giving a voice to its scenic landscapes seen through the eyes of poets that inhabit or regularly explore the hidden valleys of this sequestered region.
