Jeff Lee Manthos | Author

Publishing Credits

Perceptions, MHCC Magazine of the Arts, February 2009
The Warrior's Song

The Deadly Writer's Patrol, issue 7, 2009 (Final Issue)
Poems: Dreamscape, Questions Not to Ask

The Deadly Writer's Patrol, issue 6, 2008
Excerpt from Bluejackets (in progress): Marcy vs Mr. Perfect

The Deadly Writer's Patrol, issue 5, 2007
Poem Fearing Sleep

Steel Beach: My Life As a Naval Aircrewman 1972 - 1976
Inkwater Press (336 pages) Paperback , April 2007
# ISBN-10: 1592992617
# ISBN-13: 978-1592992614

The Deadly Writer's Patrol, Issue 4, 2007
Excerpt from Steel Beach: Bear Country
poem: A Cold Day in Hue

The Deadly Writer's Patrol, Issue 3, 2007
short fiction Elephant Dreams, poem Zippos
(photo courtesy: typewriter.rydia[DOT]net/keyboard.htm)

Salem Monthly, November 2004
poem nineteen

Fort Collins Coloradoan, Life section, September 16, 2004
short memoir

Helicopter Monthly Online Magazine August 2004
short memoir Premonition
Viet Nam War Generation Journal, vol 2, no. 3 & 4, April 2003
A Small Madness at Sea
Romantic Settings
Malcolm's T-shirt
Elephant Dreams

Incoming! by Vietnam veterans, Hawks' Nest Publishing, vol V
Routine Medevac
The Wind
Time Warp

Incoming! by Vietnam veterans, Hawks' Nest Publishing, vol IV
Suspension

Freedom Isn't Free, edited by Kim Wilson (pending publication)
1972
My Desert Flower

The Oregonian Op-ed/Forum page
May 1997, November 1997, June 1998.

Current News

February 2024

Jeff recently sold one of his favorite violas to a deserving young player in the Corvallis area. He has completed this year's viola entry for the annual Thomas Metzler contemporary American violin and bow maker exhibition and sale in Glendale, California in March.

He will also be placing one of his Sanctus Seraphin model violins in The Denver Violin Shop, near where he studied viola performance in the late 1970s, at the University of Northern Colorado. He currently has a 16.5" viola of his own design available. This instrument is bold in model and sound, with a delightful range of tonal colors.

He is also pursuing his studies of the Arabic oud, an ancient, 11 stringed instrument which predates the lute and guitar. Fretless like the violin family of instruments, it is plucked like a guitar. It has a unique sound more familiar to the Middle East and has cultural expressions from Iran to Greece, Armenia, Turkey, north Africa and beyond. Jeff seeks to find his own voice with this challenging instrument.

January 2023

Jeff has recently sold a viola he made in 1992 that had returned to his shop. He finished a 16.5” viola of his own design and will complete a violin based on his 1747 Sanctus Seraphin pattern soon. Both the 16.5” viola and violin will be entered in the 6th annual instrument exhibition and sale at the Tom Metzler violin shop in Los Angeles, California, in late March. The exact date and link the exhibit will follow soon.

August 2021

Jeff is currently working on a 16 1/4" viola based on an Andrea Guarneri (1623-1698) pattern. Jeff is using northwest woods aged over 25 years in this instrument.

April 2021

Jeff has recently completed his cancer treatments and is back in remission once again. Over the winter he completed a 17″ Maggini model viola and is currently finishing a 15 1/2″ Studio Model viola of his own design. Jeff is working with a woodcutter in Slovakia to obtain large, one-piece viola backs with dramatic figure and character for future works. He will also be visiting a regional woodcutter this summer to hand select interesting woods.

July 2020

Jeff's book Steel Beach is now available as a Kindle e-book at Amazon's Kindle Store.
Steel Beach e-book

June 2020

Jeff was recently diagnosed with a lymphoma relapse and is undergoing chemothereapy treatments to get it under control. Details will be forthcoming on his Living with Cancer page. He has completed the Betts model violin and will finish the Seraphin model violin soon. He will be taking temporary leave of his workbench until he's past chemotherapy and able to concentrate and do the quality of work he expects of himself.

March 2020

Jeff recently completed a 16 1/8" viola, which is entered in the Metzler Violin Shop's Fourth Annual Contemporary American Makers Exhibition, in Glendale, California. Photos of this viola can be seen in the instrument picture gallery. Jeff is also finishing up a Studio Model violin patterned after the Betts Stradivari of 1704, and will have a violin on his popular Sanctus Seraphin model ready this summer.

September 2018

The Oregon Folklife Network invited Jeff to join a discussion panel on musical traditions being practiced in the area. It will be held at Troubadour Music in Corvallis on Friday September 7th at 7:30 pm.

August 2018

Jeff was recently commissioned to write a short piece for the nationally distributed Vietnam Veterans of America magazine. It will appear on the Parting Shot page in the upcoming issue.

April 2018

Northwest Musical Instrument Exhibit: Saturday and Sunday, April 28th & 29th, 2018 Marylhurst University, Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Feburary 2018

Jeff will be entering his latest viola in the Thomas Metzler Violin Shop's contemporary instrument exhibition and sale taking place in Los Angeles, March 23-26. Violas will be played by a member of the L.A. Philharmonic at 4 p.m. on March 25th

July 2017

The 17" Maggini modeled viola is sold and Jeff recently finished a 15" viola of his own design and it is now available. He also has his Sanctus Seraphin patterned violin from 2006 back in his shop. This violin was exhibited in the Library of Congress that year as part of the American Federation's participation in "The American violin, from Jefferson to jazz" event.

September 2016

Jeff recently sold a violin based on a 1704 Stradivari as well as a 15 7/8" viola of his own design. He has started two new violas, one on the popular 15 7/8" pattern and one on his 16 1/8" pattern. He expects them to be completed by spring.

April 2016

Northwest Musical Instrument Exhibit: Saturday and Sunday, April 30th & May 1st, 2016 Marylhurst University,
near Portland, Oregon. Map

March 2016

Jeff just completed a 17" viola based on a Maggini pattern from the late 1500's.
Inquire for price and availability.

April 2015

Instrument Show Northwest Musical Instrument Exhibit: Saturday and Sunday, April 25th & 26th, 2015 Marylhurst University, near Portland, Oregon.

January 2015

Jeff was interviewed by the University of Oregon's school of jounalism for their series Northwest Stories: Violin Maker Jeff Manthos Violin Video link

Jeff is completing a 16 1/2" Da Salo model viola which will be available soon. His next instrument is a 15 3/4" viola on his own pattern, which will be ready by late spring.

Contact information