Meet Our Online Writers

Posted @ Oct. 19 2011 07:56PM by Susan - out-and-about

Columbia River Reader is happy to introduce its online Out & About/Arts & Entertainment writers — Laura Baird, Chere Weiss and Becky Bell — who will be letting us know about the latest goings-on in our communities. If you want ideas for things to do and places to go, just check CRREADER.COM for their weekly posts.

LAURA BAIRD
Laura Baird’s longstanding love of reading and writing has shown itself in poetry she’s written throughout the years, along with her recently self-published modern drama-romance, "Gem Opportunities” (available at The Brit’s and Unruly Salon in Longview or online). She is currently working on her second book. And she’s just signed on to be a new online writer for Columbia River Reader.
Laura has lived in Longview for seven years since moving here with her family from Twin Falls, Idaho. She first met her husband in Georgia, while serving the U.S. Army together. She is now a dental hygienist; her husband a truck driver. They have two sons: Owen, 19, who's attending Central Washington University, and Justin, 18, a 2011 graduate of Mark Morris High School who will be attending Lower Columbia College in the Fall.

She said she's enjoyed writing reguarly for CRREADER.COM since Summer 2011.
"Different people have different takes on the same subject," she said. "Maybe someone would enjoy my viewpoint or be able to relate to it."

Writing for CRREADER.COM "gives me the chance to get out and explore the area a little bit," she said. "I've been here seven years and still don't know very much about it."

We look forward to hearing more from Laura and seeing our area's offerings through her "new" eyes.

Read Laura's posts on the 1st and 15th of each month.

CHERE WEISS
“I wrote a lot in college,” recalled Chere Weiss. When she enrolled in Evergreen State College in 1971 (prior to graduating in 1975), the Salem, Oregon native became more aware of everything the Northwest has to offer . . . outdoor life, performing arts, hiking . . . and enjoying Seattle while a student in Olympia.

“I liked to write as a kid,” she said. “I’ve always been a journaler."

Now in what she calls “the third chapter of my life,” Weiss finds everything interesting and exciting.
“This is a time for me to re-invent myself,” she said, “and pursue passions that lay dormant while I raised my three sons.”

By day, Chere works as Community Outreach Coordinator for PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview. In her off hours, she enjoys Zydeco dancing, the live blues scene in Portland, getting into hot water (in hot springs around the region) and live music and theatre. She can be reached at chewei0922@gmail.com.

BECKY BELL (currently on hiatus)
“I like to make people’s tails wag,” says Becky Bell, who thinks life is beautiful, exciting and full of adventures. "You should try to do it all.”
She wasn’t always so full of exuberance, however. After her husband, Chuck, died a few years ago, she was further depressed by the prospect of her teenaged daughter preparing to leave the nest. Becky found herself doing little besides lying on the couch, eating junk food and watching TV. After gaining 80 pounds, she experienced an epiphany of awareness: “I’ve gotta either die . . . or LIVE,” she recalls thinking.
She opted to live.
Over the next few months, she learned to ride a motorcycle, went back to school and started writing for fun. Now happily married to Rick Bell, she has been a frequent contributor to Columbia River Reader, writing about her travels and adventures in venues near and far. She’s written about hot air ballooning, sandbuggy riding and jetboating down the Columbia. Her tales are always embellished with her trademark love-of-life and curiosity about in what may be around the next corner.