Jon Labrousse

The son of an active-duty Marine, Jon Labrousse grew up in several West Coast cities, then went to high school in Hawaii. “Most of the kids were Asians and Pacific Islanders,” he says. “It was a huge growth experience.” He enrolled at Oregon State University to study engineering, but after a required reading class with John Campbell he began writing poetry and changed his major to English. He spent two years teaching in Japan and South Korea before settling in Eugene in 1996 with his wife, Tasha Katsuda. “We met at OSU,” he says. She embarked on a career with the school district as a teacher, then as administrator, while he finished a master’s in education, worked as a teacher and a tech consultant, and was an at-home dad for children Malia and Kegan. After years of submitting his poems to journals, Labrousse broke out as a performer at local poetry slams and with Team Eugene at the 2005 National Poetry Slam. Since December 2010 he has taught seventh and eighth grades at Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School, where his own kids have been students. When the school lost its part-time Spanish teacher to budget cuts, he applied for a grant to buy seven ukuleles for his classroom. “Music is a language,” he says. “Every morning starts with music. The kids love it.” More ukes were added, and a performance group, TRUE (The Ridgeline Ukulele Experience), that has played many local stages. “I used to be known as a poet,” Labrousse says. “Now I’m the guy who plays ukulele with the kids.”

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

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