Forts Book Press Release


Download Links:


Nestucca Spit Press

An Independent Oregon Press Publishing Books About Oregon

388 Altadena Ave. Astoria, Oregon 97103 503-812-1524

www.nestuccaspitpress.com / nestuccaspitpress@gmail.com


Release Date (Summer 2014)

Driftwood Forts of the Oregon Coast

Nestucca Spit Press announces the release of Driftwood Forts of the Oregon Coast, by James Herman.

Blending reportage, ethnography, meditation, history, art and photojournalism, Driftwood Forts of the Oregon Coast also serves as a useful, all-ages and entertaining guide on how to build a driftwood fort. It’s perfect to take out to the beach and consult. The book features an introduction and epilogue by Nestucca Spit Publisher Matt Love, who declares, “This is a dynamic and original book about a totally undocumented cultural pastime. James has made an outstanding contribution to the literature of the Oregon Coast and makes your believe in the magical power of fort building.”

Herman, a native Oregonian from Eugene, graduated from the University of Oregon with an art degree in 2011. He has built forts on Oregon’s beaches his entire life and Driftwood Forts of the Oregon Coast showcases his multi-faceted talents and includes his essays, illustrations, photographs and hand drawn maps. He also designed the book and formed an organization called the Driftwood Forts Association to promote awareness of the joys and importance of building driftwood forts.

“Fort building is unique to the Oregon Coast,” said Herman “It is collaborative and intuitive, a free form activity that spans generations and doesn’t cost anything. It is a radical form of entertainment that is so purely indigenous to Oregon.”In the book, Herman writes:
Driftwood. It originates from time and the tides. Trees, limbs, logs, then branches, in that order. The hierarchical arrangements of their parts gestate in the waters of the Pacific, and are reanimated by curious souls and inventive wanderers into driftwood forts. Each time I find one it’s like the first. The scenic and sandy 363-mile long stretch of Earth known as the Oregon Coast is home to thousands of such things.

“I wanted to tell the story of driftwood forts and as I began documenting them I found the story of the Oregon Coast,” said Herman. “All it took was unique pieces of legislation to protect the public’s right to freely recreate on the beaches and now driftwood fort building has become ingrained in Oregon’s cultural heritage.”

Driftwood Forts of the Oregon Coast is published by Astoria’s Nestucca Spit Press. The book was printed by Pioneer Printing in Newport and is distributed exclusively through Nestucca Spit Press’ web site, independent bookstores and at live events. For more on James Herman’s work on driftwood forts, check out driftwoodforts.com, instagram.com/driftwoodforts and www.facebook.com/driftwoodforts.

For information on purchasing the bookvisit <www.nestuccaspitpress.com> Driftwood Forts of the Oregon Coast by James Herman, Nestucca Spit Press, 2014, $20, 184 pages, illustrations, photographs, maps, 5 ½” x 7 ½”, paperback, ISBN 978-0-9744364-2-5