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Episode 915: Thursday January 10, 2008

Cartoonist Jan Eliot

Jan Eliot studied art at Southern Illinois University and eventually settled in Eugene. Jan also earned a degree in Women Studies and English at the University of Oregon, having temporarily given up on studying art. After graduating, she landed a series of jobs that ranged from bookmobile librarian to car sales. A position in the production department of a newspaper eventually led to a career in graphic design and back in art, and finally she ended up spending seven happy years in his design/advertising agency. Though it all, Jan continued to cartoon -- working with three greeting card companies, illustrating computer manuals and textbooks, contributing to a few magazines, persuading her local paper to run her comic strip "Sister City" (an early version of "Stone Soup") on a weekly basis. If you're curious about the strip's name, it comes from an old fairy tale that illustrates how a community turned its limited resources into a grand feast and celebration -- creating something from nothing. This is what parents, especially single parents, often must do.

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On the web:

StoneSoupCartoons.com — Stone Soup is a syndicated cartoon strip that's distributed internationally by Universal Press Syndicate to over 140 newspapers in 6 countries, and read by over 8 million readers every day. You can read Stone Soup online every day! The Stones are an extended, blended family living in households where only the agile survive. Join Val and Joan — sisters and working moms — and their three energetic kids, their liberal live-in mother, Wally and his teen-age nephew Andy, and the Zen motorcycle cop — as they navigate life and all its chaos.

Blues Musician Steve Cheseborough

Steve Cheseborough (pronounced CHEZZ-bro) brings to life the acoustic country blues of the 1920s and '30s in the tradition of Blind Boy Fuller, Memphis Minnie, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Bo Carter – by re-creating the music and recounting the lives, legends and lore of the fascinating men and women who created the blues, and the land they came from. He learns a song off a scratchy old 78 and re-creates it loud and clear, here and now, preserving the spirit and intricacies of the original while making it his own. He sings from the heart, accompanying himself on antique-style guitars that look as beautiful as they sound. He adds touches of harmonica and percussion to his spellbinding one-man act. Steve is a respected authority on the blues, author-photographer of the acclaimed guidebook Blues Traveling, and a contributor to Living Blues, Acoustic Guitar, South and other magazines and newspapers. He holds a master's in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi, and has lectured on blues topics at academic conferences. His performances on riverboats and at festivals, museums, schools, nightclubs and private events combine stories, history and live performance.

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On the web:

SteveCheseborough.com

Author and Basket Weaver Mary Schlick

Mary Schlick is something of a living legend around the Columbia River Gorge. She’s known as a prolific writer and teacher. Mary has devoted the last four decades of her life to preserving Indian basketry traditions from the Mid-Columbia region. More than simple bags to carry food, these baskets hold a wealth of symbolism for Native Americans. Learn how these exquisite baskets were made and the ways Mary is working to pass on the tradition. In addition, Mary has written a new book, it’s a memoir chronicling her years living among the native people of the Columbia Plateau, called Coming To Stay: A Columbia River Journey. You can find it in local bookstores. This spring, Mary will be a key figure during several events commemorating Celilo Falls. This month marks 50 years since the ancient Native fishing site was flooded by the construction of the John Day Dam

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On the web:

www.maryhillmuseum.org — For more information on events commemorating Celilo Falls. This month marks 50 years since the ancient Native fishing site was flooded by the construction of the Dalles Dam.