John A Harrison
John Harrison lives in Vancouver, Washington, where he was a reporter at The Columbian newspaper in the 1980s. For several years his beat included the Columbia River Gorge. Having read about Mona Bell in a biography of Sam Hill, John decided to look for the mansion that Sam built for Mona in 1928. He found itor, more precisely its remainson an overgrown hill overlooking Bonneville Dam. Intrigued, John decided to write Mona's story. He found people in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington...See more
John Harrison lives in Vancouver, Washington, where he was a reporter at The Columbian newspaper in the 1980s. For several years his beat included the Columbia River Gorge. Having read about Mona Bell in a biography of Sam Hill, John decided to look for the mansion that Sam built for Mona in 1928. He found itor, more precisely its remainson an overgrown hill overlooking Bonneville Dam. Intrigued, John decided to write Mona's story. He found people in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington area who worked on the construction of Bonneville Dam in the 1930s and who, surprisingly, had strong memories of the controversial Mona even after 50 years. The story launched John on a search to find out more about this mystery woman of the Gorge, her relationship with Sam Hill, and what happened to her. Today John is the Information Officer at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, a Portland-based regional energy-planning agency. He is the author of an almanac-style history of the Columbia River that is posted on the Council's website at www.nwcouncil.org/history. He has a bachelor's degree in communications from Washington State University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. John and his wife, Dawn, are the parents of two grown sons. See less