Then, Now, and In-Between

This compendium of essays and prose includes many that first appeared on this Musings About Life in Oregon blog. This series of writing digs into old Oregon, with a nod to today, weaving in memories and stories with humor, sadness, and melancholy.

NEW IN February, 2026!

I am thrilled that Then, Now and In-Between: Place, Memories and Loss in Oregon is now available on Bookshop.org where you too can select your favorite independent bookshop to also benefit in its purchase. When I first published this book, I simply wanted an easy way for folks to access some of my most popular “Oregon-based” blogs in a convenient way. I priced it as inexpensively as possible then on the big “A”, figuring it was the price of a cup of coffee. Today (sadly) its cost is more like half a cup! See more below about what to expect in the book and purchase it via Bookshop.org.

I chose Oregon’s Birthday back in 2020 as the appropriate day to publish. This book was dedicated to my dearest friend Karen, a beloved friend, poet, mother, wife, sister, daughter, teacher and community member. These six years after her passing, I think of her most times I walk in Mary Young Park and along the Willamette. (See This One’s for Karen.)

From Then, Now and In-Between Acknowledgement:
“I honor and thank Karen for offering constant, profound encouragement and friendship: I will forever feel your spirit in the whispering of the cottonwoods and ripples of the river.”

Publication Date: February 14, 2020
Print Length: 202 pages, 31566 KB
e-book available from Amazon and all suppliers including as of 2026, Bookshop.org.

Review: “…to read Oregon history, six-generation Dede Montgomery shares family reminiscences and more from her popular blog. This is my fourth book by Ms. Montgomery and perhaps the one I’ve enjoyed the most. Knowing the names may not make sense to younger readers, the book is, at times, Dillard and Jenkins and Fletcher rolled into one.”

See table of contents in images below.

Watch my virtual book launch (from 2/16/2020). Friends today will recognize our other dear friend Kris who we too miss in our community. Kris and I sat together at Karen’s memorial service, and in those pandemic days of 2020, I invited her to my virtual “launch.” None of us had any idea that we too would lose Kris not long after; though her spirit – like Karen’s – resides in us all.