What’s your name and how old are you? My name is Larissa Brown and I’m 56.
Ever had a cool nickname? Not really. When I was young, I was called Lari, but then when I got into school, everyone thought it was Larry, so after awhile, I just went with Larissa.
Married? Kids? Yes, I’m married to Martin, who also goes to the gym here, and our son is Sebastian and he’s 19 years old.
Where did you grow up and what’s your opinion of that place? I grew up in northern New Jersey and loved it.
I’ve never thought of you as a tough Jersey Girl. Yeah, I am. It got me in some trouble when we first moved out here. I had that Jersey personality and didn’t understand why, like, the cashier at the coffee place wanted to talk to me about my day. I was just like, gimme the coffee, I’ve got things to do.
Is Martin a Jersey Boy? No, but he’s from DC, so we’ve both got the East Coast in us. When we moved out here to Corvallis, it was like moving to a different world.
What’s your all-time favorite movie? We were just talking about this. I really like Moonstruck, if you’re talking about good movies. But my favorite comfort movie is Dante’s Peak. It’s about a volcano erupting. It’s just one of those silly disaster movies, but I just think it’s fun and really like it. Martin and Sebastian and I watched a disaster movie every Friday night for over a year. We saw some really good ones, and some terrible ones. Disaster movies are all basically the same. They’re silly, but fun.
All-time favorite TV show? I like The Good Place and Star Trek Voyager.
What do you do for a living? I’m a writer. I do all kinds of writing. I have a couple knitting books out, and I also have some novels. They take place in the 10th Century in a fictional Iceland. I’m currently writing a memoir based on the time I spent learning Viking Age crafts. Things like spinning and sewing and weaving. It also weaves in some of my story about getting adult-onset epilepsy. That one’s going out to publishers, hopefully in January. You can find all my stuff on Amazon and Goodreads. Some of it’s at the library, too.
Any cool jobs in your past? I’ve done grant writing for 25 years, so I’ve worked with a lot of amazing people and organizations. I’m getting ready to work with someone who has a farm sanctuary. I’ve worked with the library here in Portland for years, for their literacy programs. I worked with the Portland Opera, when they were buying that big building down by the river. I’ve worked with Waldorf schools. With the City of Omaha. So many jobs where I’ve learned amazing things about the world, that I would have had no reason to learn anything about, except for the grant writing.
How long have you been a member at the gym? Since 2014. I joined when my first novel, Beautiful Wreck, came out. I remember I was in New Jersey, we had a big party for the book release. I came home and was like, I need to start at the gym right now. Martin was here before me. He joined because of John McKay, and I joined because of Martin. Then eventually Sebastian came.
What class or classes do you usually attend? I’m doing the Barbell Club now, but I did the 9:00 CrossFit class three times a week for like nine years.
Pancakes, waffles, or french toast? French toast. I like the egg. I know some people are against that, but I really like it.
Fries, tater tots, or mashed potatoes? That’s a tough one, because I like them all.
Toast, bagels, or English muffins? That’s another tough one, but I would have to say English muffins, with lots of butter. I mainly like the butter. Anything I can put butter on, I’m happy with.
First concert? Van Halen. It was in high school, so somewhere between ’82 and ’86. Me and my dad, we went to the Meadowlands in New Jersey, with the big stadium.
Were you an athlete growing up? No way! Not even a little! I was in bell choir. I guess I was a cheerleader when I got to high school, so that was a little athletic. I did that for a year in college, too, but after that, I didn’t do any sports until I came to Oregon. Now I’ve done four Hood to Coasts, two Cycle Oregons, two Portland Marathons, one of those mud races with Martin. He did all of those in one year, barefoot. I did one of them with him, but with shoes. I’ve done pretty much everything there is to do around here, but I didn’t come to it until I was a grown adult.
Where in Portland has the best burger? I really like the burger at the Bellwether Bar, which is at 60th and Stark.
What are some things you do in your free time? Knitting. I like to watch movies or TV and knit. I did knitting because it was fun, then I started designing some knitted pieces and writing up the designs for people. I turned that into a business, but it got not so fun anymore. So now I’m back to just knitting when I feel like it and it’s fun again.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? I’d like to be able to travel in time, but I’d like to change some things, not just go and observe. But that wreaks havoc. I worry I’d tangle everything up.
What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten? I think that would be escargot. I was a kid, we’d gone to a French restaurant for my birthday, and I wanted to eat escargot because I thought it was fancy. It was mostly butter, so that was fine.
What’s your current gym goal? To get here three times a week and do the Barbell Club. I hurt my leg and couldn’t put a lot of weight on it for awhile, so I want to build back up. I was getting pretty strong before that, and I was really happy with that. Now that I can lift again, in 2025, I’m gonna have some weight goals.
What’s your advice for new members of the gym? Don’t be afraid of anyone here. When I first came here, I was kind of intimidated, but then I realized that everyone here is super-nice. And that hasn’t changed for 10 years, it’s only gotten more true. It’s like a family here, and I think I would tell people that.
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