In December 1958, Ken Martin, his wife Barbara, and their three young daughters left their home in Northeast Portland to search for Christmas greens in the Columbia River Gorge—and never returned. The Martins' disappearance spurred the largest missing persons search in Oregon history and the mystery has remained perplexingly unsolved to this day. For the past six years, JB Fisher (Portland on the Take) has pored over the case after finding in his garage a stack of old Oregon Journal newspaper articles about the story. Through a series of serendipitous encounters, Fisher obtained a wealth of first-hand and never-before publicized information about the case including police reports from several agencies, materials and photos belonging to the Martin family, and the personal notebooks and papers of Multnomah County Sheriff's Detective Walter E. Graven, who was always convinced the case was a homicide and worked tirelessly to prove it. Graven, however, faced real resistance from his superiors to bring his findings to light. Used as a trail left behind after his 1988 death to guide future researchers, Graven's personal documents provide fascinating insight into the question of what happened to the Martins—a path leading to abduction and murder, an intimate family secret, and civic corruption going all the way to the Kennedys in Washington, DC.

Misunderstood and stereotyped, the black family in America has been viewed by some as pathologically weak while others have acclaimed its resilience and strength. Those who have drawn these conflicting conclusions have gnerally focused on the nuclear family—husband, wife, and dependent children. But as Elmer and Joanne Martin point out in this revealing book, a unit of this kind often is not the center of black family life. What appear to be fatherless, broken homes in our cities may really be vital parts of strong and flexible extended families based hundreds of miles away—usually in a rural area. Through their eight-year study of some thirty extended families, the Martins find that economic pressures, including federal tax and welfare laws, have begun to make the extended family's flexibility into a liability that threatens its future.

Witty, warm, and poignant, food blogger Sasha Martin's memoir about cooking her way to happiness and self-acceptance is a culinary journey like no other. Over the course of 195 weeks, food writer and blogger Sasha Martin set out to cook—and eat—a meal from every country in the world. As cooking unlocked the memories of her rough-and-tumble childhood and the loss and heartbreak that came with it, Martin became more determined than ever to find peace and elevate her life through the prism of food and world cultures. From the tiny, makeshift kitchen of her eccentric, creative mother, to a string of foster homes, to the house from which she launched her own cooking adventure, Martin's heartfelt, brutally honest memoir reveals the power of cooking to bond, to empower, and to heal—and celebrates the simple truth that happiness is created from within. "This beautifully written book is both poignant and uplifting. Not to mention delicious. It's an amazing family tale that reminds me of The Glass Castle, but with more food. And not just any food: We're talking cinnamon raisin pizza." —A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically "Life From Scratch is an unconventional love story. This beautiful book begins with the quest of cooking a meal from every country—a noble feat of it's own!—but then turns it into something far beyond a kitchen adventure. Be prepared to be changed as you experience Sasha's journey for yourself." —Chris Guillebeau, author of The Happiness Pursuit

The Martin Family History, Volume 1, a biography of Hugh Martin, born 1698, Ireland; died 1761, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey. Includes his parents Alexander & Martha [Coughran] Martin; his brothers William Martin of Colleton Co., SC; James Martin of Hunterdon Co., NJ; Thomas Martin of Bucks Co., PA; Robert Martin of Northampton Co., PA; and Rev. Henry Martin of Newtown Presbyterian Church, Bucks Co., PA. His sisters include Agnes (Mrs. Thomas) Dawson of Bucks Co., PA; and Esther (Mrs. Francis) Mason of Northampton Co., PA. Includes son, Rev. Thomas Martin (1743-1770) of Orange Co., VA and relationship with the James Madison family of Montpelier. Subsequent volumes will feature Hugh & Jane [Hunter] Martin's children: Vol. 2 - Col. James Martin of Stokes Co., NC and Martha (Mrs. Samuel) Rogers of Rockingham Co., NC. Vol. 3 - Jane (Mrs. Thomas) Henderson. Vol. 4 - Robert Martin, Sr. of Rockingham Co., NC and Samuel Martin, Esq. of Mecklenburg Co., NC. Vol. 5 - Gov. Alexander Martin of Rockingham Co., NC.