The entire Sumpter Valley book saga suffers from an all-to-common problem. Let me give you a paralell.
Many of us are well familair with the excellent book "Ain't No More", the book on the Oregon American logging operation out of Vernonia (which coincidentally, has a short connection to Eccles, by the way).
The book took in excess of 15 years to get out the door. There were many times, it was feared, that the the book would never happen. Why? Because the author of the book wanted to write an opus on the operation. He told me many times that new facts and information kept coming up and he was afraid he wouldn't get all the details just right.
To make a long story short, the book was eventually completed and published. So all that wait ended in the "perfect book"? Well, of course not, because neither you or I or anyone named Mallory, will ever write and publish a perfect book.
The particular book in question has two "flaws", if we may be so bold. The first was intentional.
The book is very long on history - in fact, longer and more detailed than any logging book I can think of. As far as potential sales are concerned, this could be the kiss of death in this type of publication. The salvation here is that the writing is excellent - in fact possibly some of the best writing I've ever seen in a historical logging book. One "flaw" neutralized?
The other "flaw" is more troublesome, and was not intentional. The publishers who finally did the book wanted a certain "look" - a throwback to elegant books contemporary to the operation itself. This involved, among other things, large margins and small pictures. NOT what a 21st century audience is looking for in this kind of book.
Did the author "succeed" in the end. Well, yes he did. The book is excellent as it stands - but has it sold well?
The greatest irony here is that another book on the OA, one with large pictures, very little text and history, would still sell very well.
To anyone who is holding off on a Sumpter Valley book because you believe it will be the be-all-end-all, you might want to think again. Let's think, for a moment, about another similar paralell.
The West Side operation in California was much shorter and smaller than the Sumpter Valley operations, yet, how many books are there again? And there will no doubt be more.
It's time to check reality. NO one is going to write the only Sumpter Valley book we will ever need. I know that there is an opus in the works. Good, we need it, it's way overdue. If it ever materializes it may possibly be the best book anyone will ever write on the subject. In the meantime.......
How many out there would like a Sumpter Valley book with large format photos, scale equipment and structure drawings and maps? Raise your hand - I thought so. Do you care if the book is weak on text and historical droning? Didn't see too many hands go down.
Many historical books are written to please the self indulgence of the author, as opposed to understanding and catering to the folks who will actually buy them. There's not a thing wrong with that provided we keep two things in mind.
The first is that the book may not sell as well as it should. The second is that everyone elses' similar effort on the same subject shouldn't be put off while we all wait for Nirvana.
And I guess, one more point bears repeating. No matter how many years, how many cubic yards of research, how much angst is poured into a book - In the end it will still fall short of being perfection.
By now multiple books should have been written on the Sumpter Valley Railroad and it's attendant logging operations. What are we all waiting for - the 55th book on the Denver and Rio Grande?
Lon Wall
Associate Editor
Timbertimes magazine
Lon Wall
Fireman - Sumpter Valley Railraod
www.pacificmodelloggerscongress.com
