Elizabeth Salway Ryan

“A remarkable and very talented women” is how family, friends, writers and journalists would describe the award – winning Elizabeth Salway Ryan. Ryan served as the news editor for the Lake Oswego Review for 22 years from 1946 to 1968. Her Lake Oswego legacy is considerable.

First, is the Beth Ryan Collection of 700 photographs she took during her tenure as a journalist. The Collection is archived at the Lake Oswego Library and can be accessed on line. Cliff Newell wrote in a Review article in 2010 “The Collection came about serendipitously. The library already had many of her photos, but not enough to warrant a full-fledged collection. It was Ryan's granddaughter Lois Moll who changed that when she came to a photo scanning event at the library.”

Moll stated in an interview with Newell for his article:  “I live in my grandmother's house (in Sunny Hill) now. I have spent years and years trying to get through everything in the basement. I knew the library was the place it needed to go.” . After that the collection continued to grow as Bob and Shirley Kronquist  - Ryan’s daughter - donated photos to be scanned writes Newell. Library volunteer Pat Snider,  who assisted with creating the Ryan collection, remembers all the photos of pancakes she took and her large “horn-rimmed glasses with the rhinestones.”

In addition to the Beth Ryan Collection of photographs, Lake Oswego has honored the legendary journalist by naming a park after her, the Beth Ryan Nature Preserve. Ryan, an avid gardener, was adamant about protecting open spaces long before it became popular.

Ryan’s journalistic accomplishments are numerous. The most prestigious achievement came in 1971 when she was the runner-up for the Woman of Achievement Award given by the National Federation of Press Women in 1970. In 1971, she was given the Off-Beat Award by The Portland Professional Chapter of Theta Sigma (now Women in Communication). Ryan won three first place awards in 1953 from the Oregon Presswomen: best news story in a weekly paper; best feature story in a magazine, and best column in a weekly. As a result of a family history course Ryan taught at Clackamas Community College, she compiled and edited the writing of her students known as “Leaves From Family Trees.” The anthology was published in 1978.

Born in 1910, Elizabeth Salway graduated from Franklin High School in 1923 and from the University of Oregon in 1931 with a journalism degree. She married Cornelius Ryan in 1932 whom she later divorced.  After the divorce, she moved in 1938 with her father and three young children to Sunny Hill Farm located near Oswego Pioneer Cemetery. As her obituary in the Lake Oswego Review stated:  “During her time on the farm, she wrote radio scripts and poems about current events while also pitching hay, canning food, and milking cows.  During WWII she was the women’s editor of the Oregon City Enterprise, offering hints on how to cope with wartime shortages.” In those early days Ryan would often ride her horse to gather stories.­­

Ryan’s last column before moving to Taipei, China in 1968 to became editor of The China Post appeared in the Review October 10, 1968. She wrote “Taiwan is a beautiful island, so I’m hoping some of you will come see it—and me. And in two years, I hope to return to my now cleaned off desk at the Review. Aloha.” The legendary award-winning writer passed away in 1995 at 85.