Wallowa Song

About the Book

Following Yesterday’s Moon as the next chapter in poet Gaynor Dawson’s story of growing up in the West, Wallowa Song uses rhymed verse to recount poignant and comical tales of fishing and hunting in the Pacific Northwest, rowing in the collegiate ranks at Stanford, and then returning home to raise a family and develop a cattle operation in Wallowa County, Oregon.

With vividly painted settings reflecting a reverence for the beauty of nature, Dawson’s poems tell entertaining stories that trace a journey through his varied life experiences. As a child fishing for Chinook in a homemade runabout, he narrowly escaped disaster. As part of the Fearsome Foursome, he rowed to victory time and time again. As a struggling rancher who either had to make or make do, he transported a cow in the back of a Chevy Suburban—much to the dismay of a state trooper.

Wallowa Song continues the poetic reflections of a common man with an uncommon talent for seeing the world through the eyes of a poet.

Praise for Yesterday’s Moon, by Gaynor Dawson
“Ever faithful to the cowboy-poet ethic, Dawson never strays from the land and the cattle-rancher lifestyle that he so clearly loves. [His] earnest, refreshing collection will appeal to anyone not afraid to have fun with poetry.”
—Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Gaynor Dawson is a consulting environmental engineer whose career has taken him on a multi-faceted journey of discovery. This work builds on his first book, Yesterday’s Moon. Dawson divides his time between his home in Washington State, and his cattle ranch in Wallowa County, where hard work and glorious scenery provide never-ending fulfillment.