The Decemberists

It’s been a long time since Chad Crouch, Colin Meloy, and Carson Ellis walked into our shop with a great idea for a collaboration—a book. So we set to work on a strategy to bring Colin’s words, Carson’s art, and my design to fruition under the title The Grievous Demise of Mr. Whitley Rackham. With a small grant from Literary Arts Fellowships to Publishers and an anonymous contribution, Stumptown Printers was able to purchase a portion of the materials we needed to publish the book, so I got to work on it after hours and on weekends as time allowed. Years passed. Colin’s music and songwriting with The Decembersits took off. Carson’s illustrations reached national prominence. Colin and Carson had a child. They signed record and book deals. Stumptown Printers moved to a new location, we grew in size, I got distracted by other projects. And then came the year 2010. The year in which the book production was completed, signatures sewn (with the assistance of Gudrun and Jules) and covers printed. And now, in 2011 … it is released to the world in a limited edition of 200.

“Long before he was the uber-hip frontman for the Decemberists, Colin Meloy was a lanky kid in one of my summer classes at Grandstreet Theatre School in Helena, Montana…”