Rest in Peace Earl Mohr

A great Oregonian has passed away: my friend Earl Mohr from Gold Beach. He died of a heart attack last week. His superb partner Carolyn called me and delivered the terrible news.

Earl and Carolyn came unexpectedly into my life in the summer of 2016 when I met them in Gold Beach as I tried to survive a cataclysmic personal disaster that almost erased me a human being. They befriended me, provided aid and comfort and Earl and I spent many hours around his kitchen table drinking his super fueled espresso drinks and discussing all things Oregon.

In 2019 I helped Earl publish his collection of poems, She Oregon. I pride myself on my knowledge of Oregon literature and I can confidentiality claim there is nothing like She Oregon in the annals of the state’s poetry or drama. It’s a call and response masterpiece of personal and Oregon history. It should have easily won the Oregon Book Award but then again, the Oregon Book Awards never seem to celebrate unique Oregon books.

Earl and I bonded over our mutual love of legendary Oregon Governor Tom McCall and other unique Oregon stories. We often marveled how both our lives intersected with these stories.

I’ve never had a more astute or enthusiastic reader of my writing than Earl. He often would email me after reading a blog post to thank for me writing it. That doesn’t happen to me very often. Indeed, I don’t think it’s ever happened to me.

Rest in peace Earl Mohr. I promise I will do everything in my power to publish your second volume of poetry that was just about ready for publication. Your voice will live on.