During its glory days, Kerby was the county seat, boasting two hotels, several saloons, a jail, a school, and one of Oregon’s earliest post offices. Presenter Paul Fattig’s maternal grandmother, Lela Ingersoll Cooke, owned and lived in the historic Naucke house before it became part of the Kerbyville Museum and History Center.
Fattig describes himself as a recovering print journalist who fell off the wagon and started writing books. His first three rolled easily forth but the fourth one—focusing on his chaotic, formative years in Kerby—is a mite reluctant to greet the world. Yet it is nearly completed, and he looks forward to talking about those interesting years when the counterculture arrived in the then largely conservative Illinois Valley.
The monthly Windows in Time lunchtime lectures feature well-known writers and historians and brings alive the people, values, and events that shaped our southern Oregon heritage. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS) and Jackson County Library Services. Programs are presented in Medford (first Wednesdays, in-person and online) and again in Ashland (second Wednesdays, in-person). Recordings of Medford presentations are available on the JCLS Beyond YouTube channel.
