SEAVIEW – Terence (Terry) O’Donnell, the late Oregon author, historian and part-time Seaview resident, was in the news again recently with an item in The Oregonian about his book collection.

As columnist Jonathan Nicholas wrote, O’Donnell left a legacy of more than 1,000 collectible books when he died in March 2001. What makes the item noteworthy is the way O’Donnell chose to give the books away.

One of O’Donnell’s favorite pastimes was sitting at home with a glass of sherry and a really good book. He liked to share his books, and in his will he bequeathed the entire collection to The Friends of the Multnomah County Library in Portland, with the request that they be sold.

The Friends holds a large used book sale every year, with proceeds going to the library system. This year’s sale, Oct. 11 through 13, will feature O’Donnell’s 1,000 volumes, each with a special bookmark: “This volume was formerly owned by Terence O’Donnell, distinguished Oregon author and longtime Friend of the Library.”

Rather than selling his books in a group, each of the O’Donnell books will be secreted among the nearly 100,000 volumes in the sale. That “treasure hunt” aspect of the sale surely would appeal to O’Donnell’s whimsical nature.

Terry O’Donnell became a familiar part-time resident of Seaview in the mid-1990s after he built his hideaway cottage he called “Crank’s Roost” on 37th between “K” and “L” Place. He shared his time between that cottage and an apartment in downtown Portland.

– GLENN GILLESPIE