Journalists John McCoy and Ethan Hoffman spent four months inside the walls of the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla in 1978, just as Washington, once a leader in prison reform, abandoned its focus on reform and rehabilitation and returned to cell time and punishment. It was a brutal transition. McCoy and Hoffman roamed the maximum-security compound almost at will, observing and befriending prisoners and guards. The result is a striking depiction of a community in which there was little to do, much to fear, and a culture that both mimicked and scorned the outside world. McCoy’s unadorned prose and Hoffman’s stunning black-and-white photographs offer as authentic a portrayal of life in the Big House as “outsiders” are ever likely to experience. Originally published in 1981, Concrete Mama revealed a previously unseen stark and complex world of life on the inside, for which it won the Washington State Book Award. Long unavailable yet still relevant, it is revitalized in a second edition with an introduction by scholar Dan Berger that provides historical context for the book's ongoing resonance, along with several previously unpublished photographs.

Traces the lush history of the southeastern corner of Washington State that would become Walla Walla, from the many indian tribes, fur traders, and missionaries that called it home, to the commercial, banking, and manufacturing enterprises that arose, and the current farming industry that continues to play an important role in the local economy and the community's unique identity. Original.

Dining in Walla Walla blossomed from an influx of mining transplants in the late 1800s. Within decades, a roadhouse called the Oasis boasted a seventy-two-ounce slab of beef, and the old Pastime Café opened at 5:30 a.m. with white toast and whiskey for breakfast. In the early 1950s, Ysidro Berrones opened one of the valley's first Mexican restaurants, the El Sombrero Tortilla Factory and Café. Owner of Denney's Hi-Spot for two decades, Joe Denney also satisfied locals with his morning crooning to piano on KTEL. Native and local wine writer Catie McIntyre Walker celebrates this rich heritage with decades of departed, beloved establishments and the people behind them.

This book delves into the history of some of the unique individuals and groups, past and present, who have made a memorable impact on their community throughout its history.

Unusual Punishment bares the explosive story of failed reform at one Washington State penitentiary as well as the complex, challenging, and painful path back from chaos.