The annual Portland Writers Picnic returns to Laurelhurst Park on Sunday, Sept. 13, with this year's gathering doubling as a tribute to co-founder Steve Arndt, who died Feb. 6 at 77.
Arndt died of complications related to heart failure, according to Oregon ArtsWatch.
Close friend and novelist Gigi Little, who is also one of this year's four organizers, confirmed the cause of death.
"He was absolutely the ambassador to the literary community in Portland," Little told Oregon ArtsWatch in February.
Arndt co-founded both the picnic and a reading series called "Steve Arndt and the Spanbauerians," held at Bold Coffee and Books, which features alumni of Tom Spanbauer's "Dangerous Writing" class.
He also volunteered with Willamette Writers and Forest Avenue Press.
An avid fisherman, former river guide, surfer and competitive swimmer who once trained for the Olympics, Arndt wrote poems and personal essays focused on nature and his own life. His work appeared in Clackamas Literary Review, Mountain Bluebird Magazine and the ekphrastic art book The Untold Gaze.
He co-authored Don Gambril: A Coach with a Heart, a biography of Olympic swimming coach Don Gambril.
He was also working on an 800-page novel titled Most Stars, based on his life.
Whenever a prominent author gave a reading at Powell's Books, Arndt would arrive hours early to reserve front-row seats for fellow writers.
A memorial gathering was held March 29 at the downtown Powell's location on West Burnside Street.
This year's picnic is organized by Little, Stephen O'Donnell, Anne Gudger and Bradley Rosen. All four appeared on KBOO Community Radio on Tuesday, Sept. 8, to preview the event. Gudger is the host of the podcast Coffee, Grief, and Gratitude and author of The Fifth Chamber.
Laura Stanfill, a writer and publisher of Forest Avenue Press who was in the same writing groups as Arndt, told Oregon ArtsWatch in February that Arndt's greatest contribution was connecting people.
He would bring young writers to mentors, she said, and supported every writer regardless of what they wrote about.
Specific start times and event details for the Sept. 13 picnic were not available as of publication.
Upcoming Portland events
- Sunday, Sept. 13: Portland Writers Picnic, Laurelhurst Park
- Through Sept. 20: TBA Festival, multiple venues across Portland
