Jon Humboldt Gates

Jon Humboldt Gates is the author of five non-fiction books, including his most recent historical work (2022) – Before the Dolphins Guild – A Story of Heroic Efforts to Save Two Navy Submarine Crews Trapped Under the Sea in 1915 and 1916.

Jon got his literary start recording and narrating oral history interviews with older Humboldt County, California people in the 1970’s and 1980’s as well as chronicling his numerous solo journeys across North America and the USSR. His archives of oral history provided the basis for his first two books; Falk’s Claim – The Life and Death of Redwood Lumber Town (1983), nominated for the Forest History Award; and Night Crossings – Rogue Waves on the Humboldt Bar at Night (1986). Both books have enjoyed wide spread regional support are now in their 7th printings.

The author also penned, Firestorm (2018), about he and his wife and dogs surviving a massive wildfire in the middle of the night in Sonoma County, California and, It’s Warm in Siberia, his stories of a solo journey across the USSR in 1984 (Second Edition 2023). His travels in the USSR eventually led to an international world beat music collaboration and live concerts between US and USSR musicians, called the Timezone Project (1992).

Also, during his 35-year career as a market journalist, Jon conducted thousands of interviews in supply chains around the world. He eventually became Director of Global Research for the international firm, OTR Global. Jon is a fifth-generation native of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. He and his wife now live near the Columbia River in Oregon.