Derek Lamson is a child of the Pacific Northwest.  As a boy, he cowboyed in Eastern Washington; as a young man, he logged and did commercial fishing in Western Oregon.  He worked in TV advertising in his thirties on the Oregon Coast and then Portland - started and crashed an ad business – and worked retail for Fred Meyer for eight years. In '78 he and Susan married and had two boys.  They were together for 30 years.

 

Throughout his life, Derek has written, shared, and published poems, stories, and songs.  In 1990 he became a Quaker follower of Jesus; subsequently he has written, performed and recorded four albums of original progressive christian gospel, folk, and blues.  (Catch him on YouTube as Derek Lamson and Friends.)  In 2017, Derek edited and collected his younger poetry into a book called His Modest Debut:  Poems 1970s and 1980s and released it through Amazon.  That same year (and also Amazon) he published his young adult historical novella titled King David and the Desert Harp. 

 

Back in Eugene since 2017, Derek is currently staying busy with his (large) Eugene family, his day job as a substitute teacher in Lane County, worship and activism with Eugene friends, community activism, and always music and writing.  His newest creative projects include a new song recording project, titled A Month of Sundays, (in sessions and in release NOW, Spring 2023), and an ambitious first graphic novel inspired by the story of the Gadarene Demoniac, titled Mark V: The Opera, i(Barclay Press, November 2022).