1974 UO graduate Dave Fisher currently works in a newsroom on the Oregon Coast. The Oregon native first worked for Safeway after graduating with a BS.
University alumnus Dave Fisher has spent most of his post-college years working in various fields. He spent 15 years with the Safeway Corporation as a graphic designer for its ad department, three years operating his own family-owned restaurant, four years as an advertising representative for Capitol Press, another few years working for Community Newspapers and has now returned to the Oregon coast where he grew up.
Fisher is the editor of the North Coast Citizen in Nehalem, Oregon.
Fisher, who attended Waldport High School on the Oregon coast, graduated from the University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science in journalism.
“I had a good time at the UO; probably the best four years of my life,” Fisher said.
During his four years at the University, Fisher was a member of Delta Tau Delta, worked briefly as a photographer for the Oregon Daily Emerald and held a part-time position as a checker for a local supermarket.
Fisher said journalism Professor Dean Rea’s class ‘Law of the Press’ was both his hardest and most enjoyable class while attending the University.
“The way the professor handled the class made it entertaining,”
Fisher said, adding that his favorite professors were Rea, Bill Winner and Roy Paul Nelson.
After graduating from the University, Fisher went to work for Safeway stores in the Portland division. While working for Safeway, Fisher met his wife, Janice, who worked in co-op advertising. The couple has now been married for 29 years and has raised two daughters, who have since left home.
Following their work at Safeway, the Fishers opened a “mom and pop” restaurant, called the Wild Iris Café, in Silverton. With the help of their daughters, who were in their teens at the time, the couple ran the restaurant for three successful years.
“We were working seven days a week, which was tiring, so we sold (the restaurant) and were able to make a profit,” Janice Fisher said.
After selling the restaurant, Dave Fisher worked for Capitol Press in Salem
and then went on to write monthly columns for a year and a
half before joining
Community Newspapers in Estacada.
While at the University, Fisher’s aspirations included returning to a small town, much like the one he grew up in on the Oregon coast.
“My ultimate goal was to return to a small town and start a newspaper. I enjoy small town life,” Fisher said.
Fisher had a chance to meet that goal when he began working as the editor for the North Coast Citizen newspaper in Nehalem this past June.
“I’m back to the coast where I grew up,” Fisher said.
Fisher, 52, has accomplished much, but still has plans for the future.
“Eventually I want to own and operate a newspaper and wind down
my career,” he said.
