Opb's State Of Wonder

This week on "State of Wonder," some of the Northwest's most prominent writers come together to share stories and memories of the man the "New Yorker" called "the Portland sage."It’s hard to imagine a more quintessentially Northwest writer than Brian Doyle. He was not from Oregon, but he was of Oregon.His tales of off-kilter small towns played out in an Oregon where the land and the animals speak, sometimes metaphorically, sometimes literally. He was famously nominated for eight Oregon Book Awards in four categories, before finally winning one.No less than the writer Ian Frazier immortalized Doyle’s place in the literary landscape in a 2016 poem for the “New Yorker,” writing: "The Brian Doyle, the Portland sage;/His writing's really all the rage."Brian Doyle died in May after developing a brain tumor.Several hundred people attended a memorial for him Sept. 21, including some of the region’s most prominent authors. Listening to them talk, we fell in love with Doyle anew, and wanted to share the event with you.