In presenting her Oregon Book Award-winning novel Dreams Like Thunder, Diane Simmons discusses the state of the "frontier" on a little farm in eastern Oregon, circa 1959. A young girl, Alberta, descendent of a prominent pioneer, wants to impress citified visitors with heroic stories. But as she prepares for the visit, she finds herself puzzling over what her pioneer heritage really is. Is it fine and proud? Or cruel and shameful? As the old people who remember the pioneer days battle ferociously over their opposing versions, Alberta has to ask: Is any of it true? What, in fact, is her inheritance, and what will she take with her to the larger world? 

Diane Simmons is a Westerner -descendant of pioneers on the Oregon Trail and raised in the high desert of eastern Oregon. She earned a BA in history from the University of Oregon Honors College. After working as a newspaper reporter for several years in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Alaska, she moved to New York City, where she earned an MA in creative writing, and a PhD in English literature. Diane is professor emerita at City University of New York and recently served as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in the Czech Republic. She has authored numerous prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. Her book, The Courtship of Eva Eldridge: A Story of Bigamy in the Marriage Mad Fifties, is a story of women's lives upended during World War II and is set in part in the Oregon shipyards; it was reissued as an Audible audiobook in 2024. Diane resides in Maplewood, New Jersey. Find out more at dianesimmonswrites.com.

Enjoy 15% off your hotel stay on History Pub nights! Show your ticket at check-in.

These events are open to everyone interested in Pacific Northwest history, and beyond! Often co-sponsored by local or state historical and civic organizations, we bring you experts, scholars, first-person experiencers, historians and documentaries expounding on topics from indigenous history to the birth of Portland, early explorers to hop growing, and on and on! It's like being back in the classroom - except this time you get to settle into comfortable seats and enjoy a drink or two with dinner while you listen and learn.

This event is eligible for a History Pub Stamp