'A Place by the Sea' gets a reprint in Cannon Beach

After five years out of print, "Cannon Beach: A Place by the Sea" is back on shelves.

Over time, the histories of rural, small towns can quietly drift from the collective memory and quickly fade into obscurity.

Without intervention, accounts of the past disappear. Thankfully for Cannon Beach, a few passionate local preservationists, keen on ensuring that the town's tales do not go untold, have built a literary bridge to connect the present to the past.

First published in 1996, "Cannon Beach: A Place by the Sea" details the a revolving cast of characters in the seaside town. As loggers gave way to artists and then to throngs of summer tourists, Cannon Beach has continued to reinvent itself.

Author Rainmar Bartl flips through the pages of his book, "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Cannon Beach."

Detailing significant chapters in the town's history, Oregon author Terence O’Donnell stitched together a resource invaluable to readers wanting to know more about the story of Cannon Beach.

Unfortunately, the book saw only a single printing. Even the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum was left without a copy. O’Donnell has since passed away, and for years barriers stood in the way of a reprint.

Through a self-described occurrence of "happenstance," Rainmar Bartl, a former Cannon Beach city planner, found himself sharing his retirement with a newfound adventure in publishing. Having played a significant role in resurrecting a few out-of-print local tomes, including Peter Lindsey's "Comin’ In Over the Rock," he learned of O’Donnell's book.

Second edition in print by Terence O'Donnell

Available at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum and at Cannon Beach Book Co.

www.cbhistory.org

After several conversations with museum staff, Bartl agreed to spearhead a republishing effort. "Not many towns the size of Cannon Beach have as well written and comprehensive a history of their community as ‘A Place by the Sea,’" Bartl said.

"It seemed," he continued, "a loss not to get it back into print. For some time, it had been a goal ... to have the book reprinted, but with budget and staff limitations, the necessary momentum was never achieved."

Through help from Karen Leedom, owner of Rivertide Press in Astoria, Bartl was able to generate a small community effort to, as Leedom described, "put the book back together."

Financial backing came from Mike Clark and Candace Holtzgraf, siblings whose parents commissioned the original pressing.

Together with their spouses, Clark and Holzgraf funded the project. With editorial notes penned by Bartl and Leedom, the second edition lacked only an image for its cover.

Artist Jeffrey Hull peeks behind a curtain during the Spring Unveiling Arts Festival. Hull's watercolor painting "Golden Evening" was chosen for the second edition of O’Donnell's book.

"Everything was in place for a new printing except no one had access to the watercolor that formed the basis for the book cover," Bartl said. "I had seen a painting by Jeffrey Hull, that also was of an expansive view from Ecola Point south to Cannon Beach."

Hull kindly agreed to lend the painting, "Golden Evening," to the book's cover. "We were thrilled that Rainmar and (the museum) asked about using ‘Golden Evening’ for the cover," Hull said.

The painting's title is derivative of both the tone of light as well as the artist's use of the golden rectangle. Hull explained this as a shape "with a ratio of 1 to 1.618, that is found throughout creation and in everything from architecture to classic sculpture and fine art."

The efforts of Bartl and others invoke a vision of Cannon Beach in the 1960s and 1970s. Artists, drawn by cheap rent and ample commercial space stemming from decline within the timber industry, flocked to the area and began documenting it from visual art and poetry. Fitting with the ethos of the time, collaborative efforts were necessary in bringing art to market.

The rush of ocean waves, the quiet rustle of a forest — Cannon Beach's natural beauty has for decades attracted a community of artists, as detailed in books by O’Donnell and Bartl.

Bartl documents this time in the 2021 publication, "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Cannon Beach." The communal effort to publish a second edition of O’Donnell's book goes far to illustrate a continuity of Cannon Beach's early artistic days.

The second edition of "Cannon Beach: A Place by the Sea" highlights many important milestones in the town's past. The book tells tales of the Corps of Discovery, the shipwreck of the USS Shark, the house of former Oregon Gov. Oswald West and his declaring the beach a state highway — and many more.

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.