Alumni Authors

Junius Rochester ’57 published his seventh book, "Charles P. Berolzheimer: Teacher, Linguist, Traveler, Scientist" (Tommie Press, Seattle, 2010). Berolzheimer, who died in 1995, owned and managed companies in the forest products field, including California Cedar Products Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of pencil slats (for wooden pencils), and Duraflame Inc., sole source of the Duraflame firelog. A 1924 Harvard graduate, Charles was raised in a cultured, wealthy New York City family but chose to make his way in the Far West, eventually settling in Stockton, California. In 1933, he married Lois Elizabeth Johnson of Milton-Freewater, Oregon, whose family came west on the Oregon Trail.

Kevin Cochrane ’79 published his first book, "The Potter’s Keeper: 25,000 Years of Pottery and Trade Told by the Characters That Lived It" (CreateSpace, May 2010). The book has been described in reviews as "Freakonomics" meets "The Da Vinci Code," Cochrane said. Inspired by his travels through China, Asia, Africa, South America and Europe, the book explores how "crude pottery cobbled together by cavemen is directly related to modern-day space exploration." Cochrane connects seemingly unrelated historical facts — ever wonder why your cell phone doesn’t have an antenna anymore? — with the common thread of economic development to show how ceramics has fueled that development and social change. Cochrane earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at Whitman and a graduate degree in economics from the University of California at Davis. He spent 25 years as a senior banking executive, getting his start at First Federal Savings in Walla Walla while he was attending Whitman. After retirement, he started his second career as a professor of economics at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California.

Sarahlee Lawrence ’04 is the author of "River House: A Memoir" (Tin House Books, October 2010). In a blend of memoir and nature writing, Lawrence tells a young woman’s story about returning home. She grew up in central Oregon and dreamed of leaving her small town for adventure. "By the age of 21, Lawrence had rafted some of the world’s most dangerous rivers as an accomplished river guide. But living her dream, riding and cleaning the arteries of the world, led her back to the place that she least expected to end up — her dusty beginnings and her family’s ranch." After Whitman, a postgraduate fellowship from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation provided Lawrence the opportunity to embark on a yearlong study and travel project, titled "Rafting and River Conservation on the World’s Biggest, Wildest Water," including rivers in Siberia, Zambia, Chile and Peru. She went on to earn a master’s degree in environmental science and writing from the University of Montana. She owns and operates an organic vegetable farm on the family ranch in Terrebonne, Oregon.