Gail Oberst is a reporter and co-founder of the Oregon Beer Growler, a publication that covers the states brewing industry. In her interview, Oberst talks extensively about her families deep ties to Oregon and how being a fifth generation Oregonian has shaped her work and interests. She also talks about growing up in a very religious home, experiences moving frequently for her fathers new positions as a minister, and how she negotiated her own diverging political beliefs. Oberst shares her experiences in southern Oregon and the Oregon coast, including time living and going to school in Bandon and Roseburg, working on fishing boat on the Oregon coast and in Washington, and moving Alaska for a job at a newspaper. She talks about attending community college and the university of Oregon as a journalism major, as well as early jobs as a reporter.
Oberst discusses her growth as a reporter and interest in community, science, and reporting about the “complex” state she lives in. At the end of the interview, Oberst talks about her own interest in home brewing and starting the Oregon Beer Growler publication with her son and husband, how they developed a business plan and settled on a mission, how she learned about the beer community, her experiences as a woman documenting a male dominated industry, and the ways she worked to include a diversity of voices in the publication. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton at Oberst’s home in Independence, Oregon May 17, 2018. It is a component of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 35), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.
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