Jesica Sweedler Dehart

Jesica is a long-time publishing influencer, beloved in the Pacific Northwest as a book seller and now as a librarian. Her reviews have been featured in Library Reads, Off the Shelf, Publishers Weekly and Shelf Awareness. While Orcas is home, she currently lives in Pullman with where her husband teaches art at Washington State University. When she is not connecting with friends, feeding her teenagers, you can find her curled up by the fire reading a book usually wearing sequins and sipping tea.

5 minutes more with Jesica…

Who were you named after? 

My Hebrew name is Chana for my great great grandmother- the grandmother of my maternal grandfather. My parents named me after my maternal grandfather whose name was Joseph, but as he was still alive, he would not accept that I was named after him.  He and I were very close, and it was a little known fact in our family that I was actually named for him.

Where did you grow up? Tell us a bit about it... 

I was raised in the Pacific Northwest with the Puget Sound visible from my bedroom windows or else just a short walk away.  I spent part of my childhood living in a rustic cabin my mom built on 60 acres of forest and later in Seattle where I lived a much more urban life.  

What do you work as and what do you love most about your job?

I have had so many careers from Waldorf teacher, social worker, rock climbing instructor, bookseller and now a librarian.  My last 11 years in the book world feel like the perfect fit and I love being a book yenta and either playing matchmaker with book or imploring someone to read a book that I know they need to read.  Reading and reviewing books for publishers is the best thing ever as our home is always full of books and the mail carrier brings new ones every day.

Do you have a favourite designer? Why?

Nau is a newer brand based in Portland, OR.  When we spent a year traveling around the world for my husband’s sabbatical, we needed clothes that could be versatile, go with everything, easily dressed up for a nice dinner or for hiking.  I have yet to wear out an article from Nau and everything I have of theirs goes with each other.  The founders were originally at Patagonia and created Nau with the same kind of durability and outdoor use but with an urban chic design.  I especially love their wool layers, dresses and my beloved Poncho Via raincoat.

All time favourite piece of clothing? 

I am torn between the Poncho Via raincoat from Nau mentioned above and my Rosa Bloom sequin leggings.  The later I bought during our sabbatical during two weeks we spent WWOOFing in Swindon, England.  Our hosts daughter has a fashion company that specializes in festival clothing.  Almost all of the items are covered in sequins and these leggings are absolute showstoppers.  I love wearing them to art openings and dance parties as they always invite conversations.

Favourite space to be in?

I love to be lying on the warm sand next to salt water with the heat of the sand just allowing me to completely relax.  If I can’t be on a warm beach then I love my bed with a heating pad or hot water bottle, a mug of tea and lots of books

What does a typical day in your life look like? 

There is the preCovid answer and the now answer.  Our life has changed so much as a result of Covid.  I am an extrovert so preCovid we were always hosting dinner parties, I spent a lot of my free time with friends, traveling, and now our home has become more of a sanctuary and we spend almost all our time here unless we are hiking.  I just returned to work after 11 months of being on furlough so three days a week I go to my job at the library.  I live with my husband and our 2 teenage sons so it feels like something is always being cooked or cleaned.  We spend a lot of time together as a family.

What makes you feel beautiful?

I am most beautiful in the summer.  My skin gets deeply brown and I spend as much time outside wearing my favorite sundresses.  I feel like I am only able to really breath deeply if I am next to a body of salt water.  My hair and skin are at their best there too.  I am meant to bask always in the sunshine.

Where do you see yourself in 20 years?

Wow, I will be 66 years old.  I hope to spend as much time as possible traveling and to be able to surround myself with people who make me laugh and who I love deeply.  I absolutely don’t want to be living in Pullman, Washington anymore.  I could picture having Orcas Island or Seattle as my home base.  My older son hopes to make Aliyah so I wonder if Israel will be a bigger part of my life at some point.  My husband and I are in the midst of creating a second marriage together and so I hope that we are successful and still together and more in love than ever.

If you had one message for women what would it be?

Time spent with girlfriends leaves me feeling totally seen, valued, understood and glowing.  There is something about the friendship of women who truly love you and appreciate you.  Invest in your friendships, creat opportunities for connection, learn together, ask questions, visit and hold space.  It is important to have diversity in your friendships so that you are not just surrounding yourself with reflections of yourself but that your friendships challenge you to see beyond your own perspective.  I am so grateful to have close friends who are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Asian, SE Indian, Black, African, Latinx, Jewish, Filipino, European, etc....we come from all different social economic backgrounds too.  While we each have such unique perspectives and stories, there is so much more that connect us all together and allows us to see the humanity in each other.  I believe in the idea of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Beloved Community.