Among a lot of serious news and a couple dozen letters to the editor, one of our most-read stories last week was Luke Whittaker’s piece about what an abundant mushroom season this is shaping up to be.

• www.chinookobserver.com/news/fall-fungi-in-full-swing-one-of-the-best-seasons-ive-seen/article_eb94a0c0-6c44-11ee-af85-ab1a8aa699fb.html

In his years here on the coast Luke has himself become something of a mycologist — a bit of an expert on the mushrooms of our damp coastal forests and dunes. A couple years ago, he wrote about our area’s reputation as home to some of the most magic of “magic” mushrooms.

• www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/magic-peninsula-gains-acclaim-as-psychedelic-shroom-capital/article_f092aa10-4bc9-11ec-9a3c-c72b0cf780d9.html

Mushrooms also featured prominently in last week’s edition of Coast Weekend, the arts and entertainment guide we publish in partnership with The Astorian. It was written by David Campiche, famously knowledgeable about all things relating to local foods.

• www.discoverourcoast.com/coast-weekend/coastal-life/outdoors/after-a-dry-season-mushroom-foragers-celebrate-a-wild-harvest/article_ade0fee2-6878-11ee-a7a1-8b3f2913a083.html

This year’s mushroom crop is in sharp contrast to last year, when a cold, dry autumn couldn’t have been worse for this treasured natural resource.

• www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/forgettable-fall-foraging-mushroom-season-comes-to-a-close-on-the-coast/article_519f6e12-7b0b-11ed-a88e-d38ee10b98bc.html

There’s no doubt that a considerable recreational fungal fan club has grown up around Pacific County’s lavish bounty of boletes, chanterelles, truffles, morels, lobsters, and on and on. We’re far luckier than most of us realize. Somebody who truly does know is the legendary gatherer Veronica Williams, a local treasure who we’ve profiled a few times over the years:

• www.chinookobserver.com/life/outdoors/veronica-williams-the-mushroom-queen-continues-her-reign/article_3cee9ff3-e0b9-54cc-a935-e04c8a9c4888.html

• www.chinookobserver.com/opinion/columns/coast-chronicles-fall-into-shrooming-season/article_b242cfb8-ee94-11e9-9a98-5f8e5197fec5.html

To we who grew up in a certain 1970s milieu, Veronica is a sort of living Tom Bombadil-like character, a master of her domain. Although most Observer readers will never meet her in person, we all should feel better for knowing that she resides in our forests.

There is, of course, far more to Pacific County and its news than just mushrooms. Our next edition will have complete coverage of the end of the notorious brother vs. brother murder trial, and much else besides.

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