Coming soon from Arborwood Press: Pee Up a Tree by Jim Henson

Pee Up A Tree: A Mental Health Memoir

With an early 1970s setting in Oregon’s Umpqua River valley, this book shares the courage, wisdom, humor and folly of ordinary people through the extraordinary lens of a youthful mental health professional. Author Jim Henson draws upon 40 years of professional experience as a clinical social worker in the process of illuminating the lives of clinic employees and the individuals and families they served. The readers of this book will enjoy this unique opportunity to be observers inside the community, inside the clinic and inside the personal connections between client and clinician. Think Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon or James Herriot’s Yorkshire countryside and you are almost there.

I'm excited to announce that we are in the final launching stage of a new non-fiction release of Jim Henson's first book, Pee Up a Tree: A Mental Health Memoir. The book is based on his start in Oregon three years out of graduate school. as a young mental health professional in Oregon's Umpqua River Valley. 

After that stint in the early 70's Jim has resided and practiced in Central Oregon first as Director of Mental Health Services for Deschutes County, and later in private practice. He retired last year and has devoted the past year to travel and finishing his manuscript.

Jim joined a group of us at the Bend Senior Center where he began sharing chapters of his story. We called ourselves a group who were "Writing for Fun". The group began in 2005 and continued until last fall when key members reached a point in their lives where it was very difficult to attend. The oldest member of the group by that time was 92. In the time she was able to attend the weekly sessions, she published three books! 

During the first year that Jim attended the group, while he was winding down his practice in 2006-2007, we put together an anthology called "Writing for Fun: featuring 12 of Bend's Senior Authors. Jim contributed "The Landing" the move from Chicago. It was to later became the first chapter of his book, Pee Up a Tree.

In the following three years, I finished my novel, The Ruin. Jim's insight into Dream Therapy, played a role in my novel as my character Cliff has a series of significant dreams. Jim and the senior group listened to the group offered valuable feedback on that aspect of the book. In Jim's book he delves into dream therapy among many other aspects of situations that arose in Douglas County from Roseburg to Drain. 

Our group was entertained each week by each other's stories and Jim was a cheerleader to each individual in the group. We are all now cheering Jim on in the result of his putting down on paper, much in the manner that he speaks in person his sometimes faltering steps as he ventured out on into his career and listened as patients sometimes seemed to find solutions to their own problems under Jim's guidance.

We will keep you advised as to the release date of this new offering by Arborwood Press.

Respectfully,

Kenneth Fenter