R. Gregory Nokes had a 40-year career as a journalist. He was a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press in Latin America, based at different times in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and in Buenos Aires, and later served as chief State Department correspondent in Washington, D.C. He travelled to more than 50 countries during his AP career.

Nokes finished his career with The Oregonian in Portland where he was both a reporter and editor. He retired in 2003 to pursue his new career as an author and lecturer on Northwest history.

He is the author of two Northwest history books, Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon, in 2009, and Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory, in 2013, both published by Oregon State University Press.

Nokes is a native of Oregon. He graduated from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and attended Harvard University as a 1972 Nieman Fellow. He and his wife, Candise, live in West Linn, Oregon.