David Peterson del Mar

David Peterson del Mar grew up in rural Oregon in the 1960s, the son of working-class parents possessed by a ferocious work ethic and a deep belief in the possibilities of education. He was a single foster parent and worked as a mill laborer, day-care provider, and historical interpreter and curator before settling in academia and writing two books on the history of interpersonal violence published by Harvard University Press and the University of Washington Press. He and his wife and son returned to Portland, Oregon from Canada in 1999. He is a Professor at Portland State University. His four most recent books are for both general readers and undergraduates: a history of Africa in the American imagination published in 2017 by Zed Books; a survey of the American Family published by Palgrave Macmillan; a meditation on nature loving in the western world published by Pearson, and a history of Oregon published by Oregon State University Press. He coordinates connections between classrooms in Ghana and Oregon as president of Yo Ghana! (http://youghana.org/). He has volunteered with battered woman's shelters and organizations concerned with vulnerable children, African development, and interracial dialogue and reconciliation. He now volunteers with at-risk immigrants in high school classrooms and teaches classes on immigration.

http://davidpetersondelmar.blogspot.com/