Press columnist Dave Oliveria will be signing 'Coeur d'Alene Chronicles' on Friday

As journalist Dave Oliveria celebrates his 77th birthday Friday, he'll be marking another milestone as well: the release of "Coeur d'Alene Chronicles," a collection of stories from his popular Press columns about the people, places and events that shaped the Lake City.

"The whole reason I did this, the only reason, I wanted to keep these stories alive," Oliveria said.

The book is subtitled, "Over Fifty Years of People, Places, and Events Gleamed from Coeur d'Alene Press Huckleberries Columns." 

It includes stories Oliveria dug up through years of research. He said the collection serves as a celebration of local history and a legacy project aimed at preserving those stories for future generations.

"Twenty years from now, long after I'm gone, I want those stories out there."  Oliveria said.

The publication caps a journalism career that has spanned 57 years. 

"I was hooked on journalism from the minute I wrote my first editorial in the Gridley Bulldog, my high school newspaper, and got a reaction. I was sold," he said.

Oliveria was 20 years old when he started his first job as a government reporter at the Chico Enterprise-Record in Chico, Calif.

His career would later take him to work as managing editor of Duane Hagadone's Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., before joining The Spokesman-Review's Coeur d'Alene bureau in September 1984. He launched the Huckleberries column, originally known as Kootenai Grapevine, in January 1985 and went on to serve as a local government reporter, columnist, editorial writer and blogger during a 33-year career with the newspaper.

In his career, Oliveria made a lot of friends and yes, some enemies, too. He was not afraid to take on sensitive topics or popular people if he thought a story demanded it.

“I can’t believe I’m still in this town," he said, laughing. "I should have been run out of here."

After retiring in 2017, Oliveria continued writing Huckleberries before launching a local history version of the column for The Press in 2020.

Many of the stories in "Coeur d'Alene Chronicles" emerged from researching old newspapers and digging through library records.

"Nobody's going to do what I did," Oliveria said.

The book focuses on events from the 1950s forward, offering readers an engaging and even educational look at how Coeur d'Alene came to be the place it is today.

"It's a flavor. You read this and you get some idea you can build on," he said.

Among the tales included are stories about a vanilla milkshake helping stop a serial killer, The movie "The Exorcist" being knocked out by what Oliveria described as an "act of God" at a drive-in theater, Hudson's Hamburgers closing for the first time in 90 years and neo-Nazi bombings that jolted the community.

Oliveria was drawn to stories that would surprise readers.

"There's some wild tales," he said.

One endorsement in the book notes, "Coeur d'Alene Chronicles" is "a must-read for anyone with a hankering to discover how an obscure North Idaho city became the sparkling civic jewel that today attracts visitors from all over the globe."

Oliveria's persistent reporting style helped him uncover many of those stories. He described himself as a good researcher.

"In my heyday, I didn't take 'no' for an answer," he said. "I kept digging and digging until I got my story."

The book also recalls an era when competition between The Press and the Spokesman-Review was fierce in the late 1980s and the 1990s.

"In the old days of the great North Idaho newspaper wars, you were either a Press guy or you were a Spokesman guy and the two didn't meet," Oliveria said.

The sides, he said, were "not even friendly enemies.

"We really went after each other," he said.

The Spokesman-Review would later close its offices in Coeur d'Alene and retreat from covering North Idaho.

"The Press won," Oliveria said.

Oliveria remains active and healthy, which he credits to walking, exercise, water and sleep, along with gardening, reading and daily devotions.

"It sort of gets my head square," he said. 

There may be a "Coeur d'Alene Chronicles" 2. Oliveria said a number of stories were left on the cutting-room floor, leaving the door open for a sequel.

"If I have the stamina," he said, laughing.

"Coeur d'Alene Chronicles" will sell for $27.50 plus tax. The book-signing is scheduled 1:30 to 4 p.m. Friday at The Press, 215 N. Second St.