Michael Frederick Ryerson (May 7, 1940 – January 6, 2015) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

who is best known for being the photographer of the Expose Yourself to Art poster which portrays

Bud Clark John Elwood "Bud" Clark Jr. (December 19, 1931 – February 1, 2022) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 48th mayor of Portland, Oregon, from 1985 to 1992. A left-leaning populist with little political experience befor ...

, future

mayor of Portland, Oregon The mayor of Portland, Oregon is the official head of the city of Portland, Oregon, United States. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and has no term limits. By law, all elections in Portland are nonpartisan. The current mayor is K ...

, flashing a bronze nude sculpture. Ryerson sold over 250,000 posters by 1984, just six years after the poster was created. Profits were used to support the Northwest Examiner newspaper, then called the Northwest Neighbor, which was started by Ryerson and Clark. Ryerson was a close friend and advisor to Clark and is often credited with being the reason Clark won the mayoral election. Ryerson attended

Jefferson High School This is a list of memorials to Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and third president of the United States and the author of the United States Declaration of Independence. Buildings Elementary schools *Jefferson Elementary School, in Cammack Villa ...

and graduated in 1958 before joining the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

for two years. He married Lee Dunaway and raised a family primarily in

Northwest Portland Northwest Portland is one of the sextants of Portland, Oregon, United States. Northwest Portland includes the Pearl District, most of Old Town Chinatown, the Northwest District, and various residential and industrial neighborhoods. A range of ...

. Ryerson is credited with bringing back the term Slabtown. Ryerson also started Mike's History Tours with local historian Tanya March, which still exists as Slabtown Tours. Ryerson died on January 6, 2015, while visiting family in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryerson, Mike 1940 births 2015 deaths Journalists from Portland, Oregon Journalists from Oregon American newspaper editors People from Portland, Oregon People from Oregon American historians American journalists