Meth Pair Ditch Portland, Pick Oprah

[David Sheff (above) and his son Nic Sheff wrote memoirs about Nic's meth addiction]

What's gives? Ditching Portland for some TV show? Who is this Oprah lady anyway?

That's right, David and Nic Sheff, the father and son who wrote memoirs (Beautiful Boy and Tweak, respectively) about their family's experience of addiction to methamphetamine, have canceled a scheduled stop in Portland (March 18-19) for an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. A local Barnes and Noble leaked the news, which was confirmed by a source at Houghton Mifflin. Here's an excerpt from the Barnes & Noble email, sent this morning (March 3) at 8:12 am:

Subject: EVENT CANCELLED, RE: Nic & David Sheff, March 19 at Barnes & Noble Clackamas

We regret to inform you that due to a booking on the Oprah show, the author event with Nic & David Sheff on March 19th at Barnes & Noble, Clackamas Town Center has been cancelled. We hope to be able to reschedule in the near future, and will let you know the details if we do. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

In our opinion, the cancellation shows a definite lack of foresight. You have to cater to your target audience, and—at least according to our city's daily paper—Portland is Meth Country. (For WW's take on Oregon's methiness, click here.)

Sure, Oprah starts tweaking whenever Tom Cruise visits, but does the family Sheff really think they'll reach more meth addicts on prime-time TV than in PDX? Come on, guys.