Oregon Ghosts

Traveling around the state of Oregon as a travel writer, I heard stories about three very different ghosts that reputedly haunted three very different locales. One was the wife of a lighthouse keeper in a remote house on the Oregon coast; one was a young woman who sometimes appeared in a mirror in The Eagle Tavern in North Portland; and the third was a Gold Rush-era cowboy who roamed the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City. (I actually heard the ghost when I stayed at the Heceta Head lighthouse keeper’s house, which now operates as a B&B.) Since nobody really “knew” who any of these ghosts were, it was up to me to create them. I wrote three short one-acts, called The Keeper, The Cowboy and the Lady of the Night. Four actors played all the different roles, and I wrote a couple of ballads for the folksy narrator who introduces each of the stories. Oregon Ghosts was chosen for the Readings in Rep series at Willamette Repertory Theatre in Eugene, and given the favorable audience response, I thought the theatre would snap it up for production. But no. It was taken on, however, by Lakewood Theatre in Lake Oswego and given a wonderful production at the Fir Acres Theatre at Lewis and Clark College, where it sold out every night. Unfortunately, I have no photos of this production.