Eugene Such a Bright Light You Scarcely Notice the Gloom

Byline: Ken Metzler For The Register-Guard

To Henry Schulte, c/o sunny Florida, USA

Dear Hank:

When you asked about Eugene - how's life here, and what about those gloomy winters? - I wondered how to respond.

What gloomy winters?

What have you learned from your three Northwest-residing daughters - Daisy and Julie in Eugene, and Margaret in Seattle?

Some consider our city a fairyland, as defined by a recent joke: "Eugene? Fifty square miles sur- rounded by reality.'

This reality-free zone is a long-standing lumber-industry community dominated by an intellectual three-ring circus called the University of Oregon.

Hank, as a retired journalist and professor, you understand college towns. Collegiate high jinks annoy citizens everywhere. In the 1850s our first institution, Columbia College - headed by an outspoken pro-South president - burned down twice. Arson was strongly suspected.

In the 1960s and '70s, …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Eugene Such a Bright Light You Scarcely Notice the Gloom. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Register Guard (Eugene, OR). Publication date: July 16, 2006. Page number: F1. © Not available. COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.