‘Storm Riders’ All True Except For Fictional Setting

In literature, one measure of quality is originality. Yet as a writer, Craig Lesley clearly isn’t afraid to wander through previously explored ground.

If he were, we wouldn’t have his new book “Storm Riders,” from which the Oregon writer will read on Saturday (see Reader board below).

“Storm Riders” is a fictional retelling of the real-life, 12-year experience that Lesley had trying to raise an adopted Native American boy. What made the experience so trying was the fact that the boy suffered from fetal-alcohol syndrome.

If that sounds at all familiar, you’ve probably heard of “The Broken Cord,” the late Michael Dorris’ nonfiction look at his own struggle to raise an adopted Native American boy suffering from fetal-alcohol syndrome.

The difference between the two, Lesley says, has to do with his unwillingness to seek out a happy ending where happiness didn’t fit.

“I think that his (Dorris’) book turned out to be a little more optimistic than certainly what the record shows,” Lesley said during a recent phone interview. In addition, he stressed, “The problem with trying to work with damaged people isn’t limited to children from reservations.”

In fact, Lesley emphasized, “A lot of these kids come out of damaged cultures and damaged families, whether those cultures are from the former Soviet Union or Romania or Colombia, which is overrun with the drug culture.”

Lesley’s boy, called Wade in the book, is the illegitimate son of his then-wife’s cousin. “By the time he was 4, he had been in 19 different foster homes,” Lesley explained. Lesley adopted Wade in 1972, and he said, “They didn’t have a fetal-alcohol diagnosis in those days.”

He spent several years trying to discover just what the problem was, and then the rest trying to live with a situation he could not control.

An obvious question to ask is, if the events he refers to in the books are “90 percent true,” then why did he fictionalize them?

“First of all, I wanted a little distance from the events,” he said. As it is, he added, “It took me 15 years to get to where I wanted to write the book. The fact is, while many parts of those 12 years were rewarding and joyful, other parts were extremely challenging and difficult.”

Mostly, though, Lesley wanted to have the same freedom he enjoyed while writing such previous novels as “Winterkill,” “River Song” and “The Sky Fisherman.”

He wanted, he said, to find “the truth that lies in the heart, as opposed to the actual record of events.”

The actual events of Lesley’s life these days involve teaching English and writing at Clackamas Community College, which is located in Oregon City, a bedroom community southeast of Portland. Currently, though, he is in the first year of a two-year tenure as visiting writer at Willamette University in Salem.

And Wade?

“He’s getting by,” Lesley said. “He’s not sick. He’s living in a trailer park and doing odd jobs. He can’t hold an actual job, but he is getting by. And that’s kind of a victory, in a way.”

Even if it isn’t a happy ending.

“That’s just how it is for a lot of people,” Lesley said.

Just for kids

Barnes & Noble will hold a special St. Patrick’s Day storytime for children beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday. Barnes & Noble is located just east of the Spokane Valley Mall (922-4104).

Book groups

Margaret Atwood’s “Alias Grace” is the March selection of the Auntie’s Book Group, which meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the store, Main and Washington (838-0206).

Frances Mayes’ “Under the Tuscan Sun” is the March selection of the book-discussion group at the Lakeside Community Library, which meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the library, 6176 Highway 291 in Nine Mile Falls (276-3329 or 233-3016).

What’s your signing?

Phil Colozzi, author of “Budget My Money? Are You Nuts?” will sign copies of his book beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at Auntie’s Bookstore.

Dorothy and Gerald Ruzicki, co-authors of “In search of Ancient Scotland,” will sign copies of their book beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Lincoln Heights Hastings, 2805 E. 29th (535-4029).

Sunni Mace, author of “Power Grains and Breads,” will sign copies of her book beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday at the North Side Hastings, 7706 N. Division (483-2154).

Robin Valaitis Heflin, author of “The Messenger,” will sign copies of her book beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Valley Hastings, 15312 E. Sprague (924-0667).

Reader board

Matthew J. Bayan, author of “Eat Fat, Be Healthy,” will share insights from his book at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Auntie’s Bookstore.

Craig Lesley, author of “Storm Riders,” will read from his book at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Auntie’s Bookstore.