LA GRANDE — John Milbert has had quite a few adventures in his 75 years, and now he’s preserved some of those tales in a book titled “Meatquake and Big Ernie.”

Milbert is a native Oregonian. He lived in Union County until he was 8, when his family moved to the Oregon coast. He graduated from North Bend High School in 1966.

Before moving to the coast, he lived in Pondosa where his father was the principal and also taught grades 5, 6 and 7.

“That’s the first place I remember,” he said of Pondosa, which was once a bustling mill town on the border of Union County, about 25 miles north of Baker City on Highway 203.

The idea for this book came about when Milbert missed his 50-year high school reunion. Full of memories, he sat down and wrote a story about a high school teacher, which he then shared with former classmates.

They liked it — and encouraged him to write more.

At 401 pages, “Meatquake and Big Ernie” is a compilation of true stories, from an encounter with a rattlesnake to outrunning a derailing locomotive to hitchhiking in an ice storm.

The stories encompass many places he’s lived, including the North Bend area and Eastern Oregon — La Grande, Baker City, working the steel gang in Huntington and more.

Milbert earned a degree in language arts from Eastern Oregon State College in La Grande (now Eastern Oregon University), and spent about 20 years living on the east side of the United States.

He returned to Eastern Oregon in 2006.

“I decided I’d lived on the wrong side of the Rocky Mountains as long as I could stand it,” he said.

It took him about four years to write “Meatquake and Big Ernie,” which is available at local bookstores, as well as Amazon. He’s currently working on a second book based on his varied work history.

“I’ve had more than 70 different jobs,” he said.

Reading

Milbert will have a reading and book signing on Saturday, Feb. 24, 3-5 p.m. at Jax Dog bookstore, 1304 Adams Ave. in La Grande.