SEQUIM — A writer known for his comedy will give a free reading this Friday night: Jim Fisher, author of The Adventures of J.R. Engels, will appear at Rainshadow Coffee Roasting Co.
This event marks the first anniversary of the Fourth Friday Readings, gatherings of writers and listeners at Rainshadow, 157 W. Cedar St. Fisher, as featured reader, will start at 6:30 p.m., though listeners are invited to come at
6 p.m. to choose their seats and drinks.
The hero of The Adventures of J.R. Engels is a “good old boy,” Fisher has noted.
J.R. is also a transplant from California who’s enjoyed some of the best the Northwest has to offer: encounters with vampires, gay cows, Roosevelt elk, even Sasquatch.
“He loves to laugh,” Fisher writes. As he travels to the Dungeness Lighthouse, the Hoh Rainforest and other remote places, “he is a bit challenged,” especially when it comes to hunting and fishing.
“But [J.R. is] willing to try anything, no matter how clumsily he stumbles through the experience.”
Fisher himself is a semi-retired Peninsula College English professor, former Procter & Gamble executive and resident of Sequim part-time and Lake Sutherland part-time.
He’s also known for his involvement with the annual Reading for Hunger Relief, a public gathering of poets and other writers in Port Angeles each November.
At the reading, which benefits local food banks, Fisher has offered his “sonnettes,” 14-line comedies, along with compiling a commemorative Reading for Hunger Relief chapbook.
After Fisher’s reading Friday night, other writers will be encouraged to share their original poetry and prose.
For guidelines for this open-mic section, phone Fourth Friday coordinator Ruth Marcus at 360-681-2205 or email RMarcus@olypen.com.
Names of writers will be collected between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., and then some will be drawn for five-minute readings.
The Adventures of J.R. Engels, meanwhile, is available from local bookstores such as Pacific Mist Books, 121 W. Washington St., Sequim, and Port Book and News, 104 E. First St., Port Angeles, and via online sources such as Amazon.
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
