Synopses & Reviews
Blessed with vast expanses of virgin timber, a good harbor, and a San Francisco market for its lumber, the Coos Bay area once dubbed itself "a poor man's paradise." A new Prologue and Epilogue by the author bring this story of gyppo loggers, longshoremen, millwrights, and whistle punks into the twenty-first century, describing Coos Bay's transition from timber town to a retirement and tourist community, where the site of a former Weyerhaeuser complex is now home to the Coquille Indian Tribe's The Mill Casino.
William G. Robbins is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of History at Oregon State University. He is the author of Landscapes of Promise: The Oregon Story, 1800-1940 and Landscapes of Conflict: The Oregon Story, 1940-2000, among other books.
"With the original edition of Hard Times in Paradise, Robbins tackled immense problems in a small packet. The new additions not only update the story of Coos Bay's struggle to survive, but also bring new scholarly perspectives that extend the discussion beyond the first brilliant portrayal of this vital facet of Northwest history." - Chris Friday, Western Washington University