This is part of a weekly series introducing readers to individuals who are passionate about our Mid-Valley community.
On the morning of Sept. 8, 2020, Jean Moule lay in bed, waiting for first light.
When it didn’t come, she opened her eyes and picked up her phone. It was 8 a.m. She had no cell service.
“I couldn’t figure out why it was still dark outside,” Moule said. “So, I waited and waited. I thought, when it gets light, I’ll go outside.”
Eventually, Moule rose and drove about a mile down the road searching for a cell signal. That’s when she learned that a fast-moving wildfire was nearing her home of four decades in the Santiam Canyon.
“There were sheriffs going up the road, knocking on the doors telling people to evacuate,” she said. “They just hadn’t got to my road yet.”
Moule’s experience that day was the inspiration for her new book, “Canyon Survival: Escape out of the Flames,” which opens with a similar story.
Like her book’s main character, Moule returned home and gathered up a litter of kittens, as well as some mementos, before fleeing. Moule spent nearly a week at her son’s house in Portland before returning to find her home still standing.
In the book, though, the heroine also flees with two llamas and four children. Instead of quickly reaching safety, the group must test their survival skills.
Along the way, the children, aged 7 to 12, learn lessons about everything from geocaching to animal behavior to defensible space. Most importantly, though, they explore how their families fit into Oregon’s ethnic history. Three of the fictional children are biracial, and one is Japanese.
The book is aimed at fourth graders and meant to be used in an educational setting. But Moule said she hopes it will resonate with children of all ages, as well as adults.
“Some people will think that the facts I put into the story are political, but they’re not. They’re the facts. It’s what happened in Oregon, and this is what’s not taught in many history books,” she said.
Moule is an experienced writer, but the book is her first attempt at fiction. She’s also an artist, and illustrated the book.
Moule spent years teaching at schools in the Santiam Canyon, then was a professor of early childhood and multicultural education at Oregon State University. She retired in 2011, but still teaches an online class for teachers each summer.
In the 1980s, Moule wrote a column for the Statesman Journal called “Letters from Santiam Canyon,” and for the past 15 years, she has written regularly for Skipping Stones magazine, which is aimed at young people.
Moule published a textbook, “Cultural Competence: A Primer for Educators,” in 2011, helping educators teach diversity to students.
Her other books for children include “Seeking Warmth and Light,” and “Ask Nana Jean about Making a Difference.” Both are collections of her columns.
In her new book, most of the locations are based on real places, Moule said.
Silver Falls’ South Falls was the inspiration for the cave where the group first takes shelter. The book’s Juniper Flats is modeled after Jawbone Flats, along Opal Creek. And a turn-of-the century schoolhouse in the book is based on one in the canyon where Moule actually taught.
Historical events described in the story, such as the internment of Japanese people in Oregon, also are factual, she said.
“I’d say about half of (the book) is downright reality, with evidence, and the other half is fiction,” she said.
Moule sells her book at events in the Santiam Canyon.
She gives the book away to anyone who lost a home in the fire, and offers it to educators and firefighters for $3.
Moule said she was struck by a comment from a teacher who reviewed the book and suggested after students read it, they could stop and think about how their own families got to Oregon.
“I love that connection,” Moule said. “That the children would be able to read it and then relate not only to the children in the story but also to their ancestors, and what they might have gained from their ancestors.”
“Canyon Survival: Escape out of the Flames” is available on Amazon in hardcover or paperback.
If you have an idea for someone we should profile for this series, please email Statesman Journal senior news editor Alia Beard Rau at arau@gannett.com
Tracy Loew covers the environment at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips totloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at@Tracy_Loew
