Meet Julie Derrick: Reviving Shoes and Stories in Baker City
Growing up in rural pragmatism, Julie Derrick learned to reuse and repair life’s staples, and now shoes written by Joni Kabana | photography by Petar Marshall Growing up in rural Idaho, Julie Derrick was used to repairing what was broken. Clothes were made by hand, mended when torn and remade into other clothes until the fabric was too thin to use, and then those scraps became rag rugs and quilt tops. As a young girl, Derrick was exposed to many modes of fixing, including a favorite memory of watching her farrier grandpa taking things apart to make them into new things. It is no wonder Derrick, after working in several “heady” jobs, found her way back to her roots—she now owns and operates JD’s Shoe Repair, an old-timey shop that recently moved from Portland to Baker City. Hammers, end nippers, knives and awls are found in abundance at this shoe…