Author Event: Jon Tullis - Timberline Lodge: A Love Story

Mount Hood's Timberline Lodge is more than an Oregon monument; it is a place like no other in the state, perhaps the nation, maybe the world. Part of that is the lodge itself. For its myriad admirers it stands larger than the sum of its parts -- many of which, like the building itself, rank not merely as furnishings and decorations but full-fledged works of art. And part of that is its place on Mount Hood, whose terrain it matches perfectly. It offers not just another scenic vista but at once invites both physical exertion and reverie, plus reminders of a universe stretching to infinity. But for Oregon, and Portland in particular, it is the mountain, the crowning glory of the state's natural mystique. And since 1937, Timberline Lodge has been the jewel in that crown. The story of the lodge's rise has been chronicled many times: how as early as the 1920s a group of mountain-loving Portlanders lobbied for a comfortable base for climbers and skiers; how hundreds laboring for the Works Progress Administration during the Depression artfully brought it to reality; how President Franklin D. Roosevelt added his blessing at its dedication on Sept. 28, 1937; how a little later men who nurtured it gathered and, in the words of architect and Oregon WPA director E.J. Griffith, "Eyes glistened as they ... pledged themselves to meet each year ... to drink a toast to a job well done." And how, after a closure during World War II, the lodge was ill-managed and languished into bankruptcy until its savior arrived in 1955 in the person of Richard L. Kohnstamm. Kohnstamm, 29, a social worker by trade and skier by enthusiasm, admittedly knew nothing about running a ski resort. But he fell in love with Mount Hood and Timberline Lodge. So he took it over, learned on the job and carefully guarded its character. As he wrote in 1987: "... Timberline Lodge fits into the Pacific Northwest. It suits its people so well: fine, and very understated, real, and not at all flashy; democratic, and very special." Timberline Lodge is jewel in Oregon's crowning glory of Mount Hood. Richard Kohnstamm took over Timberline Lodge in 1955 and restored the property's historic features as well as its finances. His son Jeff now leads operation of the lodge under contract with the U.S. Forest Service. That's the way he kept it for the next five decades, through expansion, renovation, preservation, until his death at age 80 on April 21, 2006. There are grander, more magnificent structures in the world. But few offer the sense of belonging that's part and parcel of Timberline. In observance of the lodge's 50th anniversary in 1987, Kohnstamm's RLK and Co. published "Timberline Lodge, a Love Story." It was more than just a picture book -- a love song or, better yet, a cantata praising the lodge and the mountain, with some of the state's best writers, artists and photographers as soloists. Under Kohnstamm's son Jeff, RLK continues to operate the lodge and attendant facilities under contract with the U.S. Forest Service. In honor of Timberline's upcoming 75th year comes an updated version of "Love Story," edited by Jon Tullis, the lodge's director of public affairs. Six new essayists add their voices to those in the original edition, with an array of spectacular new photographs. Nothing, of course, can equal the in-person exhilaration of the slopes or the spectacle of ever-changing light across the mountain, or the embracing comfort of the lodge. But "Love Story" comes close. In concluding his personal contribution to the book,Kohnstamm echoed the sentiment of the millions who have reveled there over the years: "There is only one Timberline, and I am glad I found it." --John Terry, Special to the Oregonian, 11/07/10