Author Archives: Gavin Stevens

About Gavin Stevens

Humptulips County is the wholly fictional on-line residence of Stephen Ellis, a would-be writer, an avid fan of William Faulkner and his Yoknapatawpha County, and a retired lawyer.

Along the Spume Line

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

We have been at the beach, walking the long, broad beaches near the delta of the Humptulips River. This is the heart of Humptulips County. The forest and sea are in a perpetual ecological standoff here, each one ending so … Continue reading →

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Nothing in Particular and Everything Good: The Art of Conversation

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

“Conversation should touch everything, but should concentrate itself on nothing.” Oscar Wilde, The Critic As Artist “After the exercises which the health of the body requires, and which have themselves a natural tendency to actuate and invigorate the mind, the … Continue reading →

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A Sense of Loss

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

This has been a bad week from the standpoint of losing friends. Two friends of roughly similar age have died from heart related illnesses, one from my high school years and one whom I met as a fully grown adult. … Continue reading →

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Repartee, Badinage, Persiflage, Raillery and Guff

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

In the 1920s, Dorothy Parker was establishing a reputation as a witty woman with a sharp tongue (the actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell called her, “My pretty, pretty cobra”). At the same time, Clare Booth Luce was becoming a respected journalist … Continue reading →

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My Morning Coffee Experience

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

I, like most of us, am a creature of habit and when those habits are disturbed I find myself unsettled.ย  The latest example of this is an unprecedented interruption in that most holy of personal activities – securing my morning … Continue reading →

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Laughter is the Best Memory

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

Now there was great Uncle Julius And Aunt Annie Mueller And Mary and Granddaddy Paul And there was Hanna and Ella And Alvin and Alec He owned his own funeral hall And there are more I remember And more I … Continue reading →

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Old Dogs, New Tricks, and Swallows

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

Oh now, goodness knows you might have done better But then, Heaven knows you might have done worse If you lit up the occasional candle You’re allowed the occasional curse Jesse Winchester, “All of Your Stories”, Third Down, 110 To … Continue reading →

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Spring Songs

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

It is a beautiful day here in Humptulips County, the kind that causes young men to sing aloud and makes old men wish they still could. Birdsong is omnipresent, the birds, young and old, knowing no inhibitions about singing lustfully … Continue reading →

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A Remembrance of Jay

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

While writing my previous piece about my friend Bob Weiss, I realized that I knew another person who, I have been told, won a Silver Star.ย  His name is Jay McLean.ย  I then remembered that I had recently seen Jayโ€™s … Continue reading →

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Conversations With Bob

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Gavin Stevens

My dear friend, partner and mentor, Bob Weiss, turns 89 tomorrow, an age at which most folks are content to rest and contemplate their past. However, whatever activities Bob may engage in tomorrow, looking backward will not likely be chief … Continue reading →

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