Book release party

Saturday night brought an opportunity to do something different...

Lori and I attended a book release party for Tom Krattenmaker, an energetic guy who somehow manages to freelance for USA Today, The Oregonian and the Los Angeles Times while making time to write a book and tend to his day job as an associate vice president for public affairs and communication at Portland's Lewis & Clark College.

Tom writes a lot about religion in American public life and his first book, "Onward Christian Athletes," questions the appropriateness of using pro sports to promote conservative Christian doctrine. (Read an interview with Tom here, published in Lewis & Clark's daily online news magazine.)

I've worked with Tom myself on a handful of occasions where he's pitched very thoughtful pieces for The Oregonian's Sunday Opinion section. For instance:

"Seeing beyond the hijab" Aug. 23, 2009
"Evangelicals walk a fine line in public schools," March 7, 2009
"Torture and evangelicals: Faith takes a back seat," Oct. 18, 2008

I credit him for introducing me to the notion that members of progressive faiths and denominations -- Judaism, Unitarianism, Congregationalists, etc. -- can be a positive force in American public life and for indirectly steering me to the book I'm reading now, "God's Politics," by evangelist Jim Wallis.

Lori won one of five books that were given in a raffle last night. So that's pretty cool, that we've already got a signed copy. We met Tom's wife, Carolyn Gretton, who confirmed that Tom's incredible work ethic -- rising at 6 a.m. and sometimes earlier to write every day before going to work -- is what allowed him to complete the manuscript in the midst of so many things on his plate.

As a new friend and his occasional editor, I congratulate Tom and wish him the best with sales and reviews of the book.