Author Archives: Nancy

Harper Bates

When Din and I decided to open Ristretto Roasters Williams, we were very fortunate to work with Holst, one of whose principals, Jeff Stuhr, was a customer at the Beaumont location. Jeff hooked us up with a young architect at his firm, Harper Bates. Harper was about 33, tall and rangy, with blazing orange hair and the sort of countenance that, even when standing still, he appeared about to spring into action. He was also, at least with us, always smiling. He was a doll, super-curious about how we saw the Williams space coming together, and eager to let us be part of the design process. I do not exaggerate when I say Din and I always felt, walking into Holst to meet with Harper, like some of the most privileged people on the planet.

The Williams cafe opened in September 2008, just about the time Harper and his wife Amie had their first child, Nari, and also that Harper found out he had ALS. It was just a really rotten hand dealt to one of the loveliest people we have known. Harper died on Tuesday. His memorial is the 15th, the same day we will open our third cafe, which I know he would have dug the hell out of. His work is with us always, and though the photo here does not show his adorableness, I feel sure he would approve. I mean, look at her. Thank you, Harper.

Loggernaut Reading Series at Ristretto Roasters, December 7

Ristretto Roasters is pleased to host Loggernaut Reading Series. The prompt this time: “Stranger,” prose and poems, with readers John Beer, Apricot Irving and Riley Michael Parker.

Wednesday, December 7, 7:30pm.Ristretto Roasters Williams, 3808 N. Williams Ave., PDX. Coffee available, wine generously donated by Anne Amie.

More information at www.loggernaut.org

John Beer is the author of The Waste Land and Other Poems (Canarium, 2010), which received the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award. He teaches creative writing in Portland State University’s MFA program. He recently moved to Portland from Chicago, where he wrote about theater for Time Out Chicago.

Apricot Irving has reported from Haiti for This American Life and won a 2011 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award for her forthcoming memoir, The Missionary’s Daughter. She is the founder and director of the Boise Voices Oral History Project and an excerpt of her memoir will appear in More magazine early next year.

Riley Michael Parker is the author of Our Beloved 26th (Future Tense, 2008) and A Plague of Wolves and Women (Lazy Fascist, 2011). Parker is the founder of Housefire, a Portland-based experimental press that has recently issued the work of many exciting new writers.