"Modeled on the many tours Brian Libby has led, In Search of Portland chronicles a series of walks through downtown, Old Town, and the Pearl District. The ninety-eight stops featured here include buildings, parks, monuments, and public art, with an emphasis on architecture and history, interwoven with personal history. The book is divided into six chapters, in many cases corresponding with individual neighborhoods or smaller enclaves. While surviving buildings and places comprise the majority of the stops, Libby also features long-gone landmarks and places of historical or cultural interest, such as the citys first grand hotel, its first school, a massive flour mill, a buried creek, a former jazz club, and a food cart pod. Libby has spent more than twenty-five years as a critic, journalist, and podcaster in Portland, covering architecture, film, visual art, sports, food, business, music, and breaking news. In Search of Portland draws from his reporting and interviews, as well as over fifty new interviews from local legends like Mike Powell to architects to notable national figures, including Gus Van Sant. In Search of Portland is not merely a book about buildings but about the human stories behind the built landscape, the people and history that have shaped todays Portland"-- Provided by publisher.