Dreams Like Thunder is a 1992 novel written by Oregon author Diane Simmons. It won the Oregon Book Award for fiction in 1993. [1] Its story takes place over a few days in summer 1959, on a farm in Eastern Oregon, and concerns a family visit by relatives who have been living in Japan. The protagonist is confronted with information about her grandfather, one of the valley's first settlers, massacring local Native Americans. A review in the Oregon Historical Quarterly described the grandmother as "the most vivid, complex, and vital character." [2]
Dan Simmons is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes within a single novel. Simmons's genre-intermingling Song of Kali (1985) won the World Fantasy Award. He also writes mysteries and thrillers, some of which feature the continuing character Joe Kurtz.
Mulholland Drive is a 2001 surrealist mystery film written and directed by David Lynch, and starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Mark Pellegrino and Robert Forster. It tells the story of an aspiring actress named Betty Elms (Watts), newly arrived in Los Angeles, who meets and befriends an amnesiac woman (Harring) recovering from a car accident. The story follows several other vignettes and characters, including a Hollywood film director (Theroux).
Djimon Gaston Hounsou is a Beninese-born actor. He began his career appearing in music videos and made his film debut in Without You I'm Nothing (1990). He then earned widespread recognition for his role as Cinqué in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad (1997), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. For his performances in In America (2002) and Blood Diamond (2006), Honsou was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Oaks Park is a small amusement park located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The park opened in May 1905 and is one of the oldest continually operating amusement parks in the country.
The Oregon Historical Society(OHS) is an organization that encourages and promotes the study and understanding of the history of the Oregon Country, within the broader context of U.S. history. Incorporated in 1898, the Society collects, preserves, and makes available materials of historical character and interest, and collaborates with other groups and individuals with similar aims. The society operates the Oregon History Center that includes the Oregon Historical Society Museum in downtown Portland.
Swedish Americans are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arriving between 1865–1915. These immigrants settled predominantly in the Midwest, particularly in states like Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin, in similarity with other Nordic and Scandinavian Americans. Populations also grew in the Pacific Northwest in the states of Oregon and Washington at the turn of the twentieth century.
Diane Mavis Schoemperlen is a Canadian novelist and short story writer.
Debbie Drechsler is an American illustrator and comic book creator. Her semi-autobiographical graphic novel about incest, Daddy's Girl (1996), was nominated for an Ignatz Award.
(Helen) Diane Glancy is an American poet, author, and playwright.
Lewis Ankeny McArthur, known as "Tam" McArthur, was an executive for Pacific Power and Light Company. He was also the secretary for the Oregon Geographic Board for many years and the author of Oregon Geographic Names. His book, now in its seventh edition, is a comprehensive source of information on the origins and history of Oregon place names. It is a standard reference book in libraries throughout Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Tam McArthur Rim in the Cascade Mountains is named in his honor.
The origin of the name of the U.S. state of Oregon is unknown, and a subject of some dispute.
Tropic Thunder is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film. When their frustrated director drops them in the middle of a jungle and dies in an accident, they are forced to rely on their acting skills to survive the real action and danger. Tropic Thunder parodies many prestigious war films, the Hollywood studio system, and method acting. The ensemble cast includes Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Matthew McConaughey, Bill Hader, and Tom Cruise.
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is an American poet and editor. Her debut book, Dog Road Woman, won the American Book Award and was the first finalist of the Paterson Poetry Prize and Diane DeCora Award. Since then, she has written five more books and edited eight anthologies. She is known for addressing issues of culture, prejudice, rights, the environment, peace, violence, abuse, and labor in her poetry and other creative works.
The Oregon Commission for Women established the Oregon Women of Achievement in 1985 to recognize the accomplishments of Oregon women and to demonstrate appreciation for their endeavors. Qualifying candidates to be nominated for the Oregon Women of Achievement are exemplary role models who promote the status of women in society, are committed to diversity and equity and have earned recognition for success and leadership in their fields. As of 2013, 81 women have been honored by the Oregon Commission for Women.
James Burton Norman Jr. is an American photographer, author, and cultural historian.
Marion Walter was an internationally-known mathematics educator and professor of mathematics at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. There is a theorem named after her, called Marion Walter's Theorem or just Marion's Theorem as it is affectionately known.
Diane Simmons is an American author. She won the Oregon Book Award in for her novel Dreams Like Thunder, and the Ohio State University Prize in Short Fiction for Little America. She teaches English at the City University of New York (CUNY). She published a biography of Caribbean author Jamaica Kincaid, which was based on her doctoral dissertation at CUNY.
The Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) is a professional organization for the Pacific Northwest's librarians and library workers headquartered in Bothell, Washington. It has over 200 members from Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.