Fall 2004.indd - the Wyoming State Library

LibraryWyomingWinter 2005Fall 2004RoundupWar ofthe Rosesauthor Warren AdlerWritingWyomingAuthors tell all!David RomtvedtWyoming’s Poet Laureate

The art of the open WestGracing the Wyoming Library Roundup cover is the art ofLinda Lillegraven. This painting, Past, Present, Future, showsHighway 30 stretching into the distance alongside the tracesof its old, abandoned right ofway. It is one of the Laramieartist’s favorite pieces, and theimage she chose to provide forthe Deep West anthology cover.(story p. 13)“Here where rainfall is sparseand the plough doesn’t venture,embankments and cuts mayremain visible for centuries,” Lillegravensays. “Those faint markson the land may be our legacy toa future when our civilization willbe a distant mystery.”Lillegraven skillfully paintsthe open spaces of the West. It’snot a universal taste in art, sheadmits. Some find her landscapesuninteresting, or even intimidating,as if they have “an atavisticfeeling that there’s no tree toclimb and the lions are going toget me.”As a child, her artistic bentwas fed by the library. Every twoweeks her family went, and shewas drawn to the many wonderfulart books. Before she hadaccess to a museum, the booksshowed her what was out there,what could be done with art.Books opened a wide world ofpossibilities for her.Nevertheless, she didn’t initiallythink of art as a serious pursuit until 1974 when she wasdoing fieldwork as a graduate student in biology. Working inthe northeastern corner of Utah in an area along the Green“Who would want to paintthe prairie?… What is there to see here?The sheltering wall of themountains is so very faraway. There are no trees toframe the view. There arenot even any men onhorseback to tell a fragmentof a story and provide scaleto the composition. There’snot a cloud in the sky. Thereis only the land, which is onlyitself, and the short grasses,and the lengthening shadowswhose color no one candefine.”River, those around her thought constantly of the sciencethey studied. But she fell in love instead with the big, openspaces and thought constantly of how she could paint them.That summer, her path shiftedfrom science to art, which shediscovered could be a more seriouspursuit than she expected.It took several years, a few detours,marriage to a now-retiredUniversity of Wyoming professorand a move to Laramiebefore she finally found herselfpainting the open landscapesshe loved. She’s now lived inWyoming for 21 years, and haspainted landscapes since 1987.Lillegraven does little plein-air.“Many artists feel that the onlyway to ‘capture the moment’with freshness and spontaneityis to work outdoors fromstart to finish,” she says. “Butwe all have different goals andpriorities in what we’re trying toaccomplish. The search for harmonyand balance is importantto me, and that requires time forreflection.“I like to think of my paintingsas a kind of poetry,” shecontinues. “A good poet canuse familiar words and standardgrammar to help us see beautywhere we had never noticed it,or to deepen our understandingof our place in the universe.Such poems aren’t written ‘onthe spot.’ They are revised and refined, set aside and taken upagain, and turned over in the mind until they are as spare andperfect as the poet can make them.”

8Fall 2004LibraryWyomingRoundupWyoming Center for the Book Coordinator,Susan Vittitow ...........................................3Wyoming Library AssociationPresident, Debbie Schlinger ..................4A Wyoming connection to HollywoodWar of the Roses author,Warren Adler ...........................5TABLE OF CONTENTSCenter for the Book and theNational Book Festival .............8John Cole, National CFB Director .........101120Cover art, “Past, Present and Future,” by Linda Lillegraven.A Literary Tour of WyomingDeep West ..........................................11Award winning novelist,Mark Spragg .................................12New Wyoming AuthorsSteven Grace, Jeffe Kennedy andJanet Meury ........................................................15Library Book Clubs ............................18Wyoming/\12 Books of Christmas .............20Crystal Stratton’sMaple Date Scone recipe ........25David Romtvedt, Wyoming’sPoet Laureate ...........................................26

take a look...You’ll notice the nameplateon the coverof the fall WyomingLibrary Roundup hasa slightly differentappearance. It wasrecently redesignedfor two reasons. First,we wanted to avoidany confusion withthe Western Writers ofAmerica’s fine publication,the RoundupMagazine. Second, wewanted to better reflectthe fact that our magazinetells the story oflibraries and how theymake our lives andcommunities better.We hope you like thenew look.LibraryWyomingRoundupOfficial publication of theWyoming State Library,the Wyoming Library Association,and the Wyoming Center for the BookVolume 46, Number 2, Fall 2004Tina LackeyEditor and DesignerSusan VittitowAssistant Editor and WriterWyoming State LibraryPublications and Marketing Office2301 Capitol Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82002307/777-6338Wyoming Center for the BookAdvisory BoardSue CannonM. Greg CarlsonSandra DonovanNorleen HealyMelanie FrancisJudy LissmanEric NyeCarl SchreierMike ShaySen. Mike Enzi, honorary memberLesley Boughton, ex officioNorma Cloyd, secretaryWyoming Library Roundup is published quarterly by the WyomingLibrary Association and the Wyoming State Library. All rightsreserved. Contents of this magazine may not be reproduced withoutthe express permission of the publishers.E-mail us at roundup@state.wy.usThe Wyoming Library Roundup is produced in part with Library Services and Technology Act federalfunds awarded to the Wyoming State Library program from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Center for the BookCoordinatorAfter the Wyoming Library Roundup hit the mailboxes thissummer, our office received appreciative emails, notes andcalls from retired and active librarians, board members andeven our state legislators. “Loved the new Wyoming LibraryRoundup. Congratulations and thanks for bringing it back,”one person wrote. “What a classy publication,” read onenote; another person said she “enjoyed it from cover tocover.”Perhaps the one that touched me the most was inresponse to the “Story time” article: “I am thrilled to knowthat what I have loved doing all these years has an official-sounding name: emergentliteracy. When we see our story time ‘graduates’ coming to use the library during their school years andinto adult years, bringing their preschoolers to the story time now, winning prizes in school, or excitedabout a book, we are so proud to have given them a positive feeling about libraries.”That “positive feeling” is why we plan to tell the story of libraries in every issue. Each quarterly issuewill have a specific theme. The summer kick-off issue explored children and libraries. Now, we focuson authors and on the Wyoming Center for the Book at the Wyoming State Library. Look for issues ongenealogy, business, health and other relevant topics in the future.The Wyoming Center for the Book celebrates and promotes writers, readers and the state’s literaryheritage. Wyoming is or has been home to a tremendous number of talented contemporary writers– Mark Spragg, Warren Adler, Annie Proulx, David Romtvedt. The list continues at length, and theliterary quality of their writing is a genuine source of pride for the state. Many are featured in theCenter for the Book anthology, Deep West: A Literary Tour of Wyoming.If librarians are the keepers of stories, the people we feature here are their creators. Both groupshave a natural connection. More than one writer will tell you they started writing by reading voraciouslyas children, and they read what they found at their library.The Wyoming Center for the Book advisory board recognized this connection when it met inSeptember and chose to focus on those projects that will promote authors and strengthen their tieswith libraries. Devoting the fall issue of the Library Roundup is one way we hope to do that.On a personal note, I’ve long had a love of books and always felt most at home among librariansand writers, so the re-launch of the Wyoming Library Roundup has been exciting. Twelve years ago whenI was in my wandering phase of life – waiting tables, working as a ski bum and driving a forklift inAlaska– I could not imagine a job writing about how wonderful libraries and books are. My thanks goto the Wyoming State Library and the Wyoming Library Association for bringing the Library Roundupback and to all of you for giving me so many good things to write about.Susan Vittitow,Coordinator, Wyoming Center for the Bookat the Wyoming State LibraryWyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 3

WLA PresidentFreshly back from another great Wyoming Library Association(WLA) conference, how can we keep inspiredand focused as the months continue and the days driveon?I believe the task easy because I know first handWyoming librarians have incredible character, convictionsand camaraderie. We believe we’re in this together.While we may each represent varying aspects oflibrarianship, our passion and values unite us.As the newly elected president of the WyomingLibrary Association, I am excited to help furtherthe goals we set at our fall convention: to energizeour members, to empower them for learning and leadingand to enrich their personal lives and the lives of those they serve. It was wonderful tosee these goals take root at our convention, but even more satisfying to know the attitudes andactions to accomplish them will continue throughout this year.Certainly the publication of this Wyoming Library Roundup and its focus is one proof of ourbeliefs and passions. Yes, books and literacy bring us together. We build on that foundation withthe teamwork of WLA sections and committees and the networking, friendships and sharing thattakes place around the state. Finally, the day to day efforts of each talented, committed librarianmust be given credit.It is a joy to represent what you stand for and do. I plan to work hard to keep the issues andideas you value in the forefront of WLA. I hope your spirits stay high, your skills stay sharp andyour services remain strong. My wish is that you all keep that energy going and continue to believein yourselves and your profession.You are bright, caring and competent individuals who make me proud to be your leader. Thereis no doubt that library excellence is alive and well in Wyoming; together we will keep it that way.Debbie SchlingerYouth Services SupervisorTeton County Library4 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

WARREN ADLERWhen moviegoerswatched Oliver andBarbara Rose’smarriage descendinto a maelstromof malice, spite,divorce papers anddog paté in the1989 film, The Warof the Roses, theywere seeing thetwisted but funnywork of Wyomingauthor WarrenAdler.Warren Adler on the set of themovie, “War of the Roses.”“It is strictly a crap shootand a minor miracle tosee one’s book made intoa major film.”Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 5

Adler’s body of work goes far beyondthe dark humor of Roses, spanningmultiple genres and topics. From asix-volume mystery series dealing withmurder in high places to Cult, a book onbrainwashing (and a cautionary tale inan age of terrorism), Adler writes, as hiswebsite says, “tales of human conflictand desire.” He has no favorite bookfrom his works, just as he has no favoritechild. He loved writing each one buthas never reread any of them.“It’s true that I write about humanrelationships,” Adler said, “but whatwriter doesn’t? If I have a commercialfailing it is that I do not write the samebook over and over again as many ofmy colleagues do who are consistentlybest sellers. My books are different.They follow no set formulae. My charactersare explorers, trying to understandthe meaning of their destiny”Writing is not a choice for Adler– it is a calling. “I never had any otherambition than to be a writer, to tellAuthor Warren Adler divides histime between Jackson, Wyomingand New York City.stories and writeworks of theimagination,” hesaid. “The workitself has alwaysbeen the rapture,the process, theecstasy.” Publication,which oncefelt like validationto Adler, is nowbut a pleasantbyproduct ofthe true reward– writing.Adler has soldor optioned 10books to the movies.Hollywoodbuys film rightsto thousands ofbooks each year,but only a handful,perhaps 35,are adapted andreleased as movies.“It is strictly acrap shoot and a minor miracle to seeone’s book made into a major film,”Adler explained. “The process itself isbizarre as the book gets moved fromhand to hand from agent, to actor, todirector, to studio, to screenwriter, anever ending dance of the egos. Everyonewants to put their creative fingerprintson the project. In most cases, theadage that too many cooks spoil thebroth becomes a truism.”Two of his books have gone to thebig screen as major motion pictures:The War of the Roses, starring MichaelDouglas and Kathleen Turner, andRandom Hearts, starring Harrison Fordand Kristin Scott Thomas. Three ofhis short stories from The Sunset Gangwere televised by PBS, an adaptation hedescribed as “extraordinarily brilliant.”“I was particularly lucky with The Warof the Roses, which somehow hit a universalgong,” Adler said. “The title andsubject matter has entered the languageto describe a nasty divorce. Since it keptclose to the characters and story, I considerit a successful adaptation.“Most important, however, was thatthe movie makers retained the title,” hecontinued. “Without a retained title, thebook’s author will obtain very little benefitfrom the many millions expended inthe movie promotion.”Adler was less pleased with theadaptation of Random Hearts. “Themoviemakers fiddled with the story andmade too many bad judgments,” hesaid. It’s an opinion he also expressed inthe pages of the New York Times. Ingeneral, “There are so many pieces thathave to be put together to get a bookto the screen that it is rare that the essenceof the book is fully achieved in anadaptation. There are no norms, no welltrodden paths and no magic formulas.In the end, as they say in Hollywood, itis up to the Movie Gods.”All of Adler’s books have beenpublished in e-book format, as well ashardback and paperback. He now ownsthe rights to 23 of his backlist titles;they are available through StonehousePress, named after his home in Jackson,Wyoming. Adler set up this companyfive years ago so he could continuepublication of all his back listed booksin all formats. “I am arguably one ofthe few, if not the only, author who hasgotten the rights back and republishedmy books with emphasis on marketingthem through cyberspace.”Adler’s first novel, Options, was publishedin 1974. He made his living withhis words for years before that, so hehas seen many changes in the industry.“In nearly forty years of being a cogin the publishing machine, the majorchange has been the total destructionof the individual or so-called gentlemenpublisher,” Adler said. “Today, publishingand distribution is controlled by majorcorporations whose only criteria is agood bottom line showing every threemonths. It has become, like the moviebusiness, a hit driven model.“Nevertheless, I am still optimisticthat the emerging small publishers andthe visionaries – or crackpots like myself– who believe that one day cyber-6 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

space will be the principal way bookswill be sold and read, will prevail. I amconvinced that, while I might be yearsahead of the curve, that the future ofbook publishing lies in cyberspace. Butit will only emerge when user friendlytechnology comes up with the magicformulae to challenge the paper book.”Like many writers, Adler is “addictedto reading,” a love he inherited from hismother. “I have never throughout mylife ever been without a book to read,”he said. His tastes run to novels andAmerican history (he is a dedicated heroworshipper of George Washington). Hedips into the classics often, particularlythe Victorians and Russians. Ever sincehis college days as a literature major, hehas made time to read and reread thegreat canon of English literature andthe great European classics.“I could fill this space with authorsI reread and love – Twain, Simenon,Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner,Thomas Wolfe, etc. etc.” Currentreading includes Philip Roth’s The PlotAgainst America, Ron Chernow’s AlexanderHamilton and Khaled Hosseini’s TheKite Runner. Not surprisingly, he “haunted”the library as a child.“There was a children’s library onStone Avenue in Brooklyn that wasliterally – no pun intended – my hangout,”Adler said. Unable to afford booksas a child, he took full advantage ofthis great library. Later, when he livedin Washington D.C., he again hauntedthe shelves of another great library, theLibrary of Congress, to research hisnovels.“I am a passionately addicted, celebratorof libraries,” Adler said. “Theyare the most important public serviceever devised, for which we must thankBen Franklin. They are the life’s bloodof any community. A community withouta library is an intellectual desert.”Adler came to Wyoming by accident.On a safari in Africa, he and hiswife met and befriended the late MaryMeade. In the late 1980s, she invitedthem to see Jackson Hole, and theAdlers promptly fell in love with it: thebeauty, the openness of the people andthe opportunity for the physical outdoorlife. They chose to make it theirhome.Newly transplanted, both Adlers“joined in the community with a“A library is an unparalleledstorehouse of knowledgeand the public library is anabsolutely fundamental ingredientin community life.”vengeance.” Adler served as Chairmanof the Teton County Library Board“during the crucial days of its transitionfrom a small log house library to a majorfacility.” He said it is now, “a jewelof library. I am proud to have beenassociated with it.”Adler was also instrumental in creatingthe Jackson Hole Writers Conference,and in recent years established theWarren Adler Fiction Award. Unfortunately,neither has lived up to Adler’shopes for them, and he believes bothneed “serious retooling.”Adler still enjoys the beauty of northwestWyoming, but is disturbed by theincreasing air of separation by class andmoney he sees. These changes were thesubject of his book of short stories,Jackson Hole, Uneasy Eden. “Sad to say,Jackson Hole is getting increasinglyuneasy,” Warren added.Recently, the National Endowmentfor the Arts did a study showing adecline in literary reading in the UnitedStates. Although its title warned Readingat Risk, Adler is not so sure readingis imperiled. “It is a one-on-one communicationsystem that, in my opinion,has far more impact than any system yetdevised, including the moving image.“Libraries are an essential tool tofoster and continue to develop thehabit of reading, particularly for ouryoung people,” he continued, “far moreimportant than they are perceived bypoliticians who are forever cutting downlibrary funds. A library is an unparalleledstorehouse of knowledge and thepublic library is an absolutely fundamentalingredient in community life.”Adler is a proponent of the idea thatpublishing will increasingly switch toelectronic formats, and that libraries willplay a significant role. “Libraries willalways have a future, but it will changewith technology advances,” he said.“The paper book still has a long way togo, but there will be a creative transformationas more and more books goonline and the academy continues toattract potential librarians dedicated tospreading the word, and offering insightand knowledge to the reading public.Reading is the key to the enrichment oflife and libraries will never abdicate theirrole and will continue to be useful andenhance the life of the mind.”Never without a novel to read, Adleris also never without a novel to write.With Children of the Roses on bookstoreshelves, he continues to keep his dailyschedule of writing, already at work onthe next project.“I know no other way of life andcan attest that the creative process isthe most fulfilling and satisfying way tospend one’s time on earth.”Warren Adler’s website at www.warrenadler.comdescribes his books, life and career.He also publishes a monthly newsletter onvarious subjects through the site.Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 7

CENTER FOR THE BOOKIt was a book lovers’ paradise: theFourth Annual National Book Festivalon October 9 in Washington D.C.,organized and sponsored by the Libraryof Congress and hosted by First LadyLaura Bush.The festival’s big, white tents on theNational Mall housed author readings,book signings and the Pavilion of theStates, where representatives from all50 states, the District of Columbia, andAmerican trusts and territories sharedmaterials about their reading and literacypromotion programs. Wyoming’srepresentatives were State Librarian LesleyBoughton, Powell Branch LibrarianJanet Meury and Wyoming Center forthe Book Coordinator Susan Vittitow.Business was brisk in the Pavilion ofthe States. Out of the estimated 85,000people attending the festival, 30,000visited the many exhibits in the pavilion.Many were young ones looking forstickers and stamps. Children were givenFourth Annual National Book Festival onthe mall in Washington, D.C.“The day has been filled with awonderful spirit of appreciationfor books, reading and writing.”a map of the United States that theyfilled in with stickers and stamps byvisiting each state’s booth. Wyoming’ssticker featured the state symbol, thebucking horse and rider.Along with the map was a list ofsuggested books for their reading – onefrom each state. Wyoming’s featuredbook was Gretel Ehrlich’s A BlizzardYear.Wyoming’s booth offered a displayof some of the best new books by the8 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

state’s authors. Boughton, Meury andVittitow, with the help of festival volunteers,handed out handfuls of Wyomingpins, stacks of Deep West bookmarks,suggested reading lists, 15 boxes ofWyoming vacation guides and stickerupon sticker upon sticker for one smallchild after another.“It was just amazing,” said Vittitow.“It was organized chaos. How excitingto be part of an event like this whereso many people are just thrilled aboutbooks and authors and reading. Andwhat a great opportunity to show offwhat Wyoming has to offer.”In other tents, the festival featuredmore than 70 award-winning authors,illustrators and poets reading fromtheir work and signing books. Amongthem was newly appointed NationalPoet Laureate Ted Kooser, Joyce CarolOates, Marc Brown, R.L. Stine, SandraBrown, Robert B. Parker, Clive Cussler,Edward P. Jones, E.L. Konigsburg, RonChernow, Connie Willis, Neil Gaiman,Katherine Paterson, Juan Williams, AzarNafisi, Anna Quindlen, David Rice,Richard Peck, Douglas Brinkley, KateDiCamillo, Nathaniel Philbrick, CokieRoberts, and poet Dana Gioia, Chairmanof the National Endowment forthe Arts.The festival also featured guests frompopular PBS televison shows “Find!”and “This Old House,” a live broadcastwith Heloise of “Hints from Heloise”fame, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the children’s pavilion withother NBA and WNBA stars in supportof the “Read to Achieve” program andBob Martin, Institute of Museum andLibrary Services Director, Lesley Boughton,Wyoming State Librarian and SusanVittitow, Wyoming Center for the BookCoordinator at the Wyoming booth.story collections for two oral historyprojects: Voices of Civil Rights and theVeterans History Project.Camera shutters were snapping (ordigital cameras… digitizing?) as morethan 9,000 children had their picturestaken with favorite PBS and storybookcharacters, including Clifford the BigRed Dog, Grover and Arthur. Visitorsflocked to the Science Fiction andFantasy Pavilon, new at the festival thisyear. And volunteers handed out morethan 30,000 bottles of water. All in all, agood day for books on the Mall.“We are delighted that so manyreaders of all ages came to this annualcelebration,” said James H. Billington,Librarian of Congress. “The day hasbeen filled with a wonderful spirit ofappreciation for books, reading andwriting.”State Librarian Lesley Boughton handingout bags at the Wyoming booth.Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 9

JOHN COLENational Center for the Book Director,John Cole, with NationalPoet Laureate, Ted Kooser.The Center for the Book in theLibrary of Congress is a catalyst for thepromotion of books, reading, literacyand libraries. Its creation as a public privateenterprise and the appointment ofJohn Y. Cole as its director took placein 1977 at the instigation of the 12thLibrarian of Congress.“The Center for the Book was thecreation of one man: booklover andhistorian Daniel J. Boorstin, who becameLibrarian of Congress in 1975,”said Cole, who remains director ofthe Center today. “In 1977 he proposedlegislation to create a center atthe Library of Congress which wouldstimulate public interest in books andreading.” With the enactment of PublicLaw 95-129, approved on Oct. 13, 1977,President Jimmy Carter approved thelegislation.“To my amazement, Dr. Boorstinsaid he wanted me to be the ‘foundingdirector’ and to shape the center’sfuture direction,” said Cole. “In fact, heinsisted—and that was that.”Cole first came to the Library ofCongress in 1966, just a few years outof library school at the University ofWashington. His future wife, NancyE. Gwinn, came to work at the Libraryin 1969, and they married in 1973. AUniversity of Wyoming alumna, as wellas a Fulbright scholar in England and agraduate of the University of MichiganNational Center for the Book DirectorLibrarySchool,Nancy hasbeen directorofthe SmithsonianInstitutionLibrariessince1997.TheCenter forthe Bookis a uniqueoffice inan institutionthathappensto be thelargest and most comprehensive libraryand research institution in the world.It relies on its partnerships: formalrelationships with more than 80 nationalcivic and educational organizations andinformal partnerships with many moreresearch and professional organizations.It has even stimulated the creation ofcenters for the book in Australia, Russia,Scotland and South Africa.“Using the Library of Congress’sprestige and resources, the Center forthe Book can forge partnerships andcreate special opportunities for stimulatingpublic interest in books, reading,literacy and libraries at every level—local,state, national, and international,”Cole said. “The Center is both theLibrary of Congress’s focal point forcelebrating the legacy of books and thewritten word and a national umbrellafor sharing good and practical readingpromotion ideas.”Promoting libraries and raising thevisibility of libraries are among the Centerfor the Book’s goals. It has workedclosely with the American Library Associationon library promotion projects,and the ALA is one of the Center’s80-plus reading promotion partners.Roughly 40 of the 50 state affiliate Centersare located in libraries.The Center for the Book coordinatesthe National Book Festival’s authorand reading promotion programs.It suggests many programs for stateaffiliates, but especially promotes the“Letters About Literature” and “Riverof Words” writing contests for childrenand teens. State affiliates chooseand develop their own mix of projects– among them: literary maps, “OneBook, One Community” discussions,authors databases and book festivals.All 50 states and the District ofColumbia now have affiliates, a goalthe Center reached in 2002 (NewHampshire was 50th). “Ironically, affiliatedstate centers were not part ofthe original Center for the Book plan,”said Cole. “Interest was there from thebeginning, however, and I soon becameconvinced that we could not do our jobnationally without grassroots supportfor our mission in the states.”Despite popular concerns that readingis on the decline, “Books, reading,and writing—thank goodness—willalways be part of our lives and ourculture,” said Cole. “However theirroles are changing and it’s importantthat organizations such as the Centerfor the Book continue to point out thatbooks, reading and writing are a keypart of the multimedia age. In fact,they are the ‘content’ part that providesthe historical substance and imaginativeapproaches that the media age needs forits stories in the first place.“Because conflict—or perceivedconflict—makes a good story, the presstends to promote the ‘either-or’ myth,practically assuming that computers andelectronics will ‘replace’ books, libraries,and book culture itself,” he added. “TheCenter for the Book’s existence—and27-year success—argues to the contrary.”For more information, visit the website forthe Center for the Book in the Library ofCongress at http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/or the Wyoming Center for the Book website athttp://www-wsl.state.wy.us/slpub/cenbook/10 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

Gather some of thebest contemporary writingfrom Wyoming. Askthe authors about themselves.Ask them to writehow this place influencestheir work. Put it in onebook.This book is DeepWest: A Literary Tour ofWyoming, an anthology ofexcerpts and essays from19 of Wyoming’s bestcontemporary authors.“We finallyhave an anthologyto callour own,” saidMike Shay, oneof the editorsof Deep West. “Itwas written, editedand publishedin Wyoming.”The anthologywas a project of theWyoming Center forthe Book (WCB) atthe Wyoming State Library. The WCBwas established in 1995, and it is one of50 state affiliates of the Center for theBook at the Library of Congress. Recognizingthe power of the written wordto enrich lives, the Wyoming Center forthe Book celebrates writers, readers andWyoming’s rich literary heritage.Deep West originated several years agowhen the organization’s advisory boarddecided they wanted to do more thana “literary map” (a state map showingwhere significant writers lived andworked.)Instead, they looked to Montana’sstate anthology, The Last Best Place, asan example of what could be done tofeature the state’s writers. They reviewedother anthologies for ideas aswell, including regional collections suchas Leaning into the Wind and a poetryanthology of Florida creative writingfellowship winners.Starting the project was one thing– bringing it to completion was a Herculeantask that would take five years. AWCB subcommittee requested writingA Literary Tour of Wyomingsamples, essays about living andwriting in Wyoming, a short biographyand a short piece namingat least two influences on theirwork from 38 authors. From that,23 were selected for inclusion, but fourdropped out due to pressing commitmentsand other difficulties.After that came the hard work of collectingmanuscripts, formatting them,editing them; sending the work to onepublisher who rejected it; sending itthen to a New York editor for review;making some of the changes he suggested;and finally, striking a deal withPronghorn Press to print Deep West, andmassaging the manuscript into shape yetagain for publication.The final product is well worth it,showing a wide swath of the Wyomingliterary landscape, and revealing howthe landscape of Wyoming informs andinfluences the work of those who writehere.Authors included are impressive:Warren Adler, of War of the Roses fame;Pulitzer-prize winner Annie Proulx ;David Romtvedt, state poet laureate,and two past poets laureate – RobertRoripaugh and Charles Levendosky(now deceased); Iowa poetry prize winnerDainis Hazners; Linda Hasselstrom,author of Feels Like Far and one ofDEEP WESTContributors to Deep West at the Governor’sResidence with Governor Dave andFirst Lady Nancy Freudenthal.the three co-editors of the Leaning intothe Wind anthology; Page Lambert (InSearch of Kinship); Jon Billman (When WeWere Wolves); Geoff O’Gara (What YouSee in Clear Water); B.J. Buckley; AlysonHagy; Mark Jenkins; Vicki Lindner;John Nesbitt; C. L. Rawlins; Tom Rea;Tim Sandlin; and Barbara Smith. Romtvedt,Linn Rounds and Shay served aseditors.“It was a five-year project thatinvolved a lot of people and yielded agreat result,” said Shay. “It’s daunting torealize that there are enough fine writersin Wyoming that we could do anotheranthology and feature 19 differentpeople.”He added, “We could be starting atradition.”“Deep West: A Literary Tour of Wyoming”is published by Pronghorn Press. Itis available at local bookstores or at http://pronghornpress.org/ for $22.95.For more information on the WyomingCenter for the Book, contact Susan Vittitow,WCB Coordinator, Wyoming State Library,2301 Capitol Ave, Cheyenne WY 82002,307/777-5915 svitti@state.wy.us, or visit thewebsite at http://www-wsl.state.wy.us/slpub/cenbook/Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 11

MARK SPRAGGPhoto courtesy of Virginia Spragg.Mark Spragg – celebrated novelist,essayist, screenwriter – grew up workingon Wyoming’s oldest dude ranch justoutside the east gate of YellowstoneNational Park. In the 1960s, it was oneof the most isolated places in the lower48 – no television, no radio, 25 miles tothe nearest one-room schoolhouse and50 miles to the nearest small town. Despitethe isolation, or perhaps becauseof it, Spragg fed his literary imaginationwith his father’s 3,000 books andwith monthly trips to the public librarywhere he’d grab as big a stack of booksas he could carry. He read voraciously.“I literally thought as a little boy thatthe souls and minds and hearts of allthose men and women were enclosedbetween the covers of those booksand shelved in libraries,” Spragg said.Libraries, in other words, were evidenceof heaven. As he grew out of boyhood,libraries became mere buildings withbooks. In recent years, however, he realizedhe had it right the first time – theyreally are evidence of heaven.Today, Spragg’s mind and heart havefound their place in the books on thoselibrary shelves with his memoir, WhereRivers Change Direction, and two novels,The Fruit of Stone and An Unfinished Life.A major motion picture based on AnUnfinished Life and starring Robert Redford,Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freemanis slated for release by Miramaxin 2005. His work has been comparedwith that of Cormac McCarthy andKent Haruf and praised repeatedly byreviewers.“I think most writerswrite from an area wherethey are uerly familiar.”12 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

Spragg will readily admit that, economicallyspeaking, he’s failed at makinga living as a writer for most of this life.He always knew, however, that it waswhat he wanted to do.“Which I think gives a person greatsolace, because you always know whatyou’re striving toward,” he said.In fact, he has solid evidence showingexactly how far back his drive to writeexisted. After his mother died, Spraggfound his baby book in her belongings.When he was eight, she asked himwhat he wanted to be when he grew up.The answer she recorded was, “novelist.”Where Rivers Change Direction, hisbreakout book, actually began as a giftto his mother toward the end of her lifewhen she was dying of emphysema, andSpragg and his wife were caring for her.Spragg’s formal education was at WapitiSchool, Cody High School and theUniversity of Wyoming. Afterward, hetried teaching, but found it drained himtoo much for writing; it used too manyof the same intellectual and emotionalmuscles.Instead, he turned to the hard, physicalwork he’d learned while young. Untilhe could make a living as a writer, heshod horses, built fence, worked on oilrigs and guided in the mountains. Itwas physically demanding, but he camehome at night with his head full ofstories. He’d shower, eat, drink a lot ofcoffee and write.“At 52, I’m glad I don’t have to dothat anymore,” he said.After years of working day jobs,writing essays, editing and enduring aless-than-satisfactory stint as a Hollywoodscreenwriter (commuting from hishome near Cody), Spragg achieved nationalrecognition in 1999 with the publicationof Where Rivers Change Direction.A stunning collection of autobiographicalessays, Rivers won the Mountains &Plains Book Award for nonfiction in2000, the same year Haruf ’s Plainsongtook fiction honors.Non-fiction, however, was not hisfirst love. Fiction was.Spragg followed theinitial success of Riverswith his first publishednovel, The Fruit ofStone, in 2002. Thisbook, set in Wyoming,was well received:Booklist picked it for itsEditors Choice list ofthe best fiction of 2002and also featured it in atop 10 list of best firstnovels.His latest book, AnUnfinished Life, waspublished in Augustof this year, and themovie is expected tobe released in 2005– an unusually shorttime between the twoevents. This happened,in part, because neitherthe book nor the movie is an adaptationof the other. Both tell the same story,but both the screenplay and the bookevolved at the same time.An Unfinished Life started with oneimage Spragg couldn’t shake: a man,about 70 years old, sitting on a porch,surrounded by cats and clearly, deeplyembittered. Not content to occupySpragg’s conscious thoughts, this manstarted appearing in his dreams at night.“It came to me,” Spragg said. “Ididn’t come to it.”“I literally thought as a little boy thatthe souls and minds and hearts of allthose men and women were enclosedbetween the covers of those booksand shelved in libraries”With his other books, he usuallyhad an overriding notion of what theywere about before he started. This oneinstead sprang from that one image.Spragg and his wife Virginia oftenfound themselves on hours-long drivesto see friends. Because the man onthe porch had become so prevalentin Mark’s imagination, the two begantalking about him while driving. Howhad he come to be this way? Was there achance for redemption?“It became clear early on that this wasto be a novel about forgiveness,” Spraggsaid.Over a year of driving and talking,the character of Einar and the story ofAn Unfinished Life began to take shape.When Spragg began the novel, Virginiadecided to write a screenplay of thesame story. They would each write, thentalk and compare what they had written.The book and the screenplay grewup intertwined, different tellings of thesame tale. Spragg’s novel was sold toKnopf, and their co-written screenplaywas sold to Miramax.“It became a puzzle,” Spragg said,“something that enchanted us in termsof how to move the story through intwo different media.”Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 13

Spragg’s books are all set in Wyomingand draw on a deep knowledge of thepeople and the land.“As a boy growing up on the nationalforest, I saw nature as somethingliving,” said Spragg. “It’s an advantageto set a story in an area that you knowfrom top to bottom.“I know where the constellations seton the horizon at different times, whichplants flower when. I don’t have to researcha place because I’m so groundedin this place.”He continued, “Having said that, I’msure if I grew up in South Chicago, Iwould see the same beauty, poignancy,complexity there.”Despite his ties to place, do not referto him as a “regional writer.”“No writer wants to be labeled,”Spragg said. “It’s a disservice to anyman or woman to be tied to a region.”He pointed out that you often hear ofsouthern writers or western writers or“westerns.” It’s rare, however, to hearof an “eastern” writer or an “eastern”novel, even though there are fine writersin that region who set their stories inthe communities they know.“I think most writers write from anarea where they are utterly familiar,”said Spragg. “Unfortunately, writersare classified as ‘regional’ as a way todismiss them, to reduce their impact onthe canon of the whole country. I thinkFaulkner is our most classic exampleof a fine regionalist whose thoughtpatterns were so universal that he rosebeyond that.”Spragg read voraciously as a child andcertainly has not stopped as an adult.He budgets time to read studiously everyday as faithfully as he budgets timeto write, and time to walk. He worksbetween 6 and 10 hours a day, and typically,he reads about 100 to 150 booksa year.“It’s what I would expect of mydoctor,” Spragg said, “to become anabsolute expert at what they do.” Beforehe dies, he would like to become thebest novelist he can be, and that doesn’thappen by accident.With that kind of reading schedule,the list of authors he has read and whohave influenced his work is tremendous.Hemingway and Faulkner were stronginfluences. Andre Gide and Nikos Kazantzakiswere pivotal. Discovering thework of Lawrence Durrell in his lateteens, “was an epiphany. The broadnesswith which he could examine theworld was extraordinary.” Henry Milleramazed Spragg: the first great modernist,he wrote with honesty and cloakednothing in literary tradition.If one school most influenced hiswork, he believes it was the Latin writers:Pablo Neruda, Garcia Marquez.Right now, his interests run to CharlesBaxter, Charles Frazier, Larry Brown,Kent Haruf and Mac McCarthy, andhe’s also been deeply influenced byJames Welsh and Scott Momaday.Spragg sees literature as a way tograsp the world, both emotionally andintellectually. The issues raised by therecent National Endowment for theArts study, Reading at Risk, are to him alegitimate worry. That report showed adecline in literary reading in the UnitedStates.Television, he believes, has proliferatedso much that it has become thearbiter of culture. Unfortunately, headds, American television and filmsreduce the complexity of the humancharacter and story to caricature and, insome cases, cartoon.“I think that’s a great sin, and I usethat word expressly, against our accumulativeability to imagine ourselves,what it means to be human, how limitlessthat is,” Spragg said. “We now havetwo and a half generations of peoplewho have studiously watched TV andnot read. We’ve gotten out of the habitof reading.“I think we’ve become a society thatwants to be entertained and placatedand not challenged. I always find readingchallenges. Reading broadens theessential notion that we have aboutourselves and puts us in a constant stateof re-definition.”Having said all that, Spragg seesyoung people on his book tours hungryfor the richer cultural meal of literature.It also says something to him that ourcountry values libraries. He hopes thatsociety will swing back to the emotionaland intellectual habit of searching forthe truth in ourselves that reading represents.So what if everybody in a communityturned off the television and read thesame book? What kind of discussionwould that generate? This year, NatronaCounty Library is finding out, usingSpragg’s work. The library chose WhereRivers Change Direction for its “EverybodyReads Mark Spragg” reading anddiscussion program. The goal was to getas many people as possible in the communityreading and talking about justone book.Spragg was asked to speak at the finalfestivities and was honored to do so. Hesaid it’s flattering, but daunting, to havea community key in on your work likethat – particularly in your home state.Spragg’s readers will be glad to knowthat the next book is already in theworks, but he is saying little until thefirst draft is done.“It robs you of the essential passionif you always talk about it.”Wyoming Arts CouncilLiterary Fellowships,1989 and 2000Neltje Blanchan MemorialAward, Wyoming ArtsCouncil 1999Where Rivers ChangeDirections (memoir, 1999)Mountains & Plains BookAward for nonfiction, 2000The Fruit of Stone(2002, novel)Booklist Editors Choice,2002An Unfinished Life (2004)Booklist, Library Journalstarred reviews, soon to bereleased as a major motionpicture.14 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

Getting a StartWriters know there is no feeling like that first byline, that first sale and, most ofall, that first published book. Wyoming is not only home to a rich literary tradition,but is also home to a crop of new writers, who are just now seeing that firstbook on the shelves of the local shop. The Wyoming Library Roundup talked tothree recently published Wyoming authors – Jeffe Kennedy, Janet Meury andStephen Grace – to learn how they arrived at this point.Trucks and True LoveFor Laramie writer Jeffe Kennedy, theroad to publication was paved with …dead bats.Two steps back: it’s a little more complexthan that. Nevertheless, bats werepart of the story behind Kennedy’s firstbook of essays, Wyoming Trucks, TrueLove and the Weather Channel, publishedin February by the Universityof New Mexico Press. This is acollection of 15 mostly autobiographicalessays about living life andlearning what it is to be in the world.“We can’t ever really understandhow someone else experiences theworld,” Kennedy said, “but this is a wayto try to communicate that.”Kennedy entered college as a premedstudent at Washington Universityin St. Louis, adding a major in religiousstudies because she found she wasn’tsatisfied just as a “science-head.”“A lot of us become scientistsbecause we love the natural world somuch,” she said. “It’s the logical pathway,but it’s a brutal and limited way ofknowing the natural world.”Religious studies also brought her intouch with the professor who would beher college advisor and her mentor inlife and in writing, Professor Hadas.Hadas opened her eyes to so manythings that at one point in her collegecareer Kennedy had a revelation: she nolonger wanted to be a doctor. She wouldswitch her major to religious studies andwrite, teach andphilosophize therest of her life,just like ProfessorHadas. Sheburst into hisoffice totell him thegood news.He toldher it wasa terrible idea.Instead, Hadas told her tostick with biology so she would alwayshave a paycheck and something to writeabout. She followed his advice, andenrolled in the University of Wyomingafter graduation, pursuing a doctorate inneurophysiology.Here’s where the bats come in. Shewanted to know how we perceive theworld, so at UW she studied the audioneurophysiologyof bats – how batsprocess sounds in their brains to build apicture of their surroundings. She cameto a crisis point when she realized shecouldn’t be in a laboratory all day with aJEFFE KENNEDYsedated animal. She loved the information,but hated having to kill them.“OK, so what’s the perfect life?” sheasked herself. The answer was obvious– she wanted to be a writer.She completed a master’s degreein neurophysiology, then worked as awriter for UW and attended visitingwriters programs the university offered.Later, she worked for an environmentalconsulting firm, — again, as a writer.Because it was a meditation on death,Kennedy shared her essay, “Of Swallows,Snakes and Science,” with hercollege advisor and religious studiesinstructor, Professor Hadas. The essaywas about finding dead swallows allover the ground while doing fieldworkand about how badly she always feelswhen seeing animals dead.Kennedy continued on page 25.Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 15

JANET MEURYJanet Meury can’t remember a timesince she learned to read that she didn’twant to be a writer.Asked why she writes, she said,“Because I don’t know how to stop?Because, if I don’t write, my life doesn’tfeel real. Because, more than anythingelse I do, writing makes me feel wholeand balanced and truly alive. Because,if I don’t write, my skin doesn’t fit. BecauseI have found some of my greatestand most important friendships in theworld of books and reading, and I wantto reach back out through that medium,to give something back, to make thoseimpossible friendships across time andspace that are enabled by the writtenword.”Now, some of the best poetry fromthe Powell branch librarian is seen inher first book, Listening to Stones, alongwith that of fellow poet Sheila Ruble.The book, from northern Wyoming’sPronghorn Press, combines the workof the two women – a pairing Meurydescribes as a serendipitous “stroke ofgenius” by Pronghorn’s publisher, AnnetteChaudet.“I had admired [Ruble’s] work aspublished in other Pronghorn Pressanthologies, and evidently she had admiredmine,” said Meury. “Our lives, ourexperiences, and our looks are all verydifferent and often opposite, but I thinkour poems complement each other verywell.”Meury was born in Fort Collins,Colo., and delved into poetry in gradeschool not long after she learned howto read and write. Her seventh gradeteacher, Donna Dolven, was a stronginfluence: under her tutelage, Meurykept writing poetry, but also started herfirst novel and a book of theology andwrote essays (though she wasn’t surewhat essays were.) “I intended to beatLouisa May Alcott’s record of publishingmy first book before the age of 16,and I promised to dedicate it to MissDolven,” Meury said. Although I missedthat goal by 40 years, I did rememberthe dedication.”Meury later earned a bachelor’s degreein English literature with honors increative writing from Colorado Collegein Colorado Springs. After a brief stintas an Army wife during the Vietnamera, she found herselfdivorced with a smallchild to support. Shewent back to college atEmporia State Universityfor her Master’s inLibrary Science.Her son had beenborn in Germany, andshe had intended toreturn to Europe afterearning the MLS. But bygraduation, she was toohomesick for the RockyMountains to leave.Instead, she appliedfor jobsinMontana,Wyoming, Colorado, NewMexico and Arizona, finally landing atPowell, where she has been ever since.Through the years of her marriageand while earning her master’s degree,she kept journals and wrote occasionalpoems, but didn’t learn how to get publisheduntil after she moved to Wyoming.“I took a creative writing course atNorthwest College, and Rob Koellingencouraged me and helped me figure outhow to submit,” Meury said.She “sort of fell into” the publicationof her first book. “Mutual friends toldAnnette Chaudet she should get in touchwith me when she was looking for materialfor her Hard Ground: Writing the Westanthologies,” Meury said. “I actually gotan email from her, inviting me to submit.I did, and she loved my poetry. She publishedeverything I sent her over a coupleof years in her anthologies, and she approachedme to suggest the book.”She added, “Emotionally, it has beena dream come true in so many ways, soexciting and satisfying and thrilling.”Reader response to Listening to StonesPoet Librarianhas been gratifying “So far, most of myreactions have been from close friendsand family, and of course they all say it’swonderful,” said Meury. “A couple ofmore objective readers have been verygenerous in their praise, too. One ofour library regular users and supportersbought one for her daughter, sayingshe liked the way my poems could beenjoyed even by people who didn’t reada lot of poetry. That pleased me verymuch, because that is one of my goals asa poet, to be accessible to everyone, notjust other poets.”Meury participates in poetry readingsoften at Northwest College, and hopesto do readings and signings elsewhere.She writes in her journal daily and, ofcourse, writes poems.“I think of mypoems as individual pieces, and I almostnever write them in any kind of series,so it wouldn’t be true to say I’m workingin any real way on my next book or ona project,” said Meury. “Maybe somedayI’ll go back to my seventh grade goals ofwriting fiction or essays – probably nottheology.“For now, I am just delighted whenthe next poem comes along, demandingto be written down and polished up andshared.”15 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

Fly-fishing novelistSTEPHEN GRACEWhy does Stephen Grace write?“Because I’m not very good at it andI love a challenge.”His readers might disagree. Grace’sfirst book, Under Cottonwoods, wasquickly picked up as a BookSense fictionpick shortly after its publication inJanuary, 2004 and has received somegood reviews, including one in the LosAngeles Times.Under Cottonwoods is a novel about twoyoung Wyoming men: Walter, who hada brain injury as a boy that left him withmental and physical disabilities; andMike, orphaned as a teen and now adriftas an adult. These two, drawn togetherby their mutual love of the outdoorsand flyfishing, are gradually able to freethemselves from their pasts. The bookhas been well-received particularly inthe flyfishing world and the disabilitycommunity, but has a universal appeal.“I’ve gotten letters from peopleranging from a man in Japan who readit on the Tokyo subway to a retiredYale philosophy professor who read itin a Montana cabin,” said Grace. “I’venever been poorer in my life than I amright now, but when I get those letters, Icouldn’t be happier.”Grace was always a voracious reader,but only started writing seriously aboutfive years ago. He grew up in Missouri,graduating from Washington Universityin St. Louis. In college, he studied clinicalneuropsychology – but changed hismajor when a friend of his died frommassive head trauma in a rock climbingaccident.He’s worked at everything fromresearch assistant to whitewater raftingguide, but most of his adult life hasbeen spent teaching kids at-risk andpeople with disabilities.“My favorite part of the job was gettingthe people I worked with involvedin outdoor activities,” Grace said.“When we were in the wilds of Wyomingfishing, camping, rafting and skiing,I realized we had a lot in commonand the differences between us didn’tmatter much at all.”That was when hebegan writing UnderCottonwoods.Grace tried workingwith an agent forhis book, but becamefrustrated and startedsubmittingthe book directly to publishers.“I was working in Jackson Hole makingseven bucks an hour,” said Grace. “Ihad to choose between mailing samplechapters or going to bars. One day Istood in line at the post office trying todecide whether to submit or to drink.I chose to submit. Sort of. I only sentchapters to two publishers and I threwthe rest of the sample chapters andenvelopes in the trash at the post officeand then went to a bar.”One of those chapters landed on thedesk of Lyons Press editor George Donahue,who emailed right away askingfor the rest of the manuscript. Gracesold a pair of skis at a pawn shop to payfor overnight shipping, then went into aFedEx office for the first time in his life,only to discover they didn’t ship to postoffice boxes.“So I went to the post office andstood in line and tried not to thinkabout how many beers overnight postagewould buy,” Grace said. A coupleof months later, he got an email fromDonahue that Lyons wanted to publishUnder Cottonwoods.“It didn’t seem real,” said Grace. “Stilldoesn’t. I was convinced for a long timethat one of my friends was playing anelaborate practical joke on me.”Grace has been around people likethe character of Walter his entire life.“When I was a little boy my grandmothertook me with her when she went tovisit organizations where she volunteeredwith people with disabilities,” hesaid. He grew up with two cousins withDown syndrome and another relativesurvived a traumatic brain injury whenhe was a teen. After college, he workedsix years in Jackson Hole with “a terrificorganization” called Community EntryServices, which provides assistance topeople with developmental disabilities.Under Cottonwoods was also influencedby the poetry of T. S. Eliot, particularlyThe Waste Land. In fact, Grace rewroteUnder Cottonwoods while caretaking ahouse where T. S. Eliot lived on HarvardSquare in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Grace’s next project is a novel abouta murder in a Wyoming town. But fornow, when he’s not writing, you can findhim in the outdoors running with histwo dogs, snowboarding, mountain bikingand flyfishing.Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 16

LIBRARY BOOK CLUBSBy Troy RumpfLander’s teen book club gettingtogether to discuss their book andenjoy some pizza.“I find that I enjoy thebook much more when Ican hear the opinions ofothers and also bouncemy own ideas off them.”In college with a group of friends,I vividly recall all-night chats exploringevery facet of certain books (mystrongest recollection is of The Jungle)that we all seemed to have read. Weshared insights, argued over the author’spurpose, and couldn’t wait to get backtogether to talk some more.And, as you could guess, I’m notalone in this. Book discussions arepopping up all over the place. Manycommunities offer discussion groupsthrough private clubs, museums, socialorganizations and other venues. However,people looking for informationabout such events often look to thelibrary.One great resource for the state’slibrary book groups has been theWyoming Council for the Humanities(WCH). The WCH provides financialand material support for discussions;36 of their 46 programs are offered inWyoming libraries, reaching hundredsof people through this service alone.The Humanities Council loans, at nocost, 20 books of six different titles,all under a unifying theme (Americanmemoirs, violence, Wyoming). A scholaris appointed by the host to lead eachsession through the discussion.While highly popular, these are farfrom the only discussion groups atWyoming libraries.“Three years ago we went solo,”Director Karen Hopkins said of ConverseCounty Public Library’s decisionto design their own offerings. “We tiedit in to Wyoming authors, our attendancegrew, and the books became verypopular.”People look to the programs forvarious needs, but as Hopkins sees it,participants just want an interesting andenjoyable read, especially since most ofthese readers are already highly occupiedwith work, family and life.Many other discussion groups havefound their own ways to make the selectionprocess more personal and to tailorthe groups to the community’s needs.Take a look at the Albany CountyPublic Library. In addition to WCHbook discussion programs, they re-18 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

ceived a grant from the MathewShepard Foundation (with assistancefrom the University of Wyoming’s Departmentof English) for a gay/lesbianbook discussion series in Laramie andLander. They still have copies of thebooks and welcome other libraries tohost the series.Susan Worthen, branch manager ofthe Uinta County Library, has gonethrough quite a process with the twodiscussion groups in Lyman. Memberswould nominate books based onreviews, past readings and suggestionsfrom members. Eventually this methodbecame too cumbersome, so she tookon the selection responsibility herself.“My year as a despot,” she joked.“But like Oprah, I soon found thepressure was just too much to take.”Now both groups read the same book,determined on a more equitable basisby participants.Laramie County Library System currentlyoffers five different series. Likeother libraries, it offers two HumanitiesCouncil programs, but it also has anemphasis on youth with Cover to Cover,a book club for teens hosted by authorS.L. Rottman, and the Mother-DaughterBook Club, which has a waiting listnearly as big as the discussion groupitself.Another success came through acommunity partnership with the localStarbucks to provide a monthly discussionseries. The library purchases five toseven copies of the book and handlesall the publicity. Starbucks provides anenticing location, the discussion coordinationand some great coffee.Including younger readers is on theminds of the library staff in MountainView, where they offer a club for momsand daughters in addition to two separategroups just for adults. In Casper,Natrona County Public Library offersthe Teen Book Club and the SaturdayAfternoon Book Club, reaching youthin grades 6-12.“It’s so important for students tosee that there are many other kids outthere who like to read for fun,” saidPam Crabb, adult services librarian atNatrona County. “Teens often spreadthe word to friends and encourage themto come.”But why do people want to join bookclubs? Some people enjoy the socialaspect, others the reading, some thechance to explore intellectually in a safeenvironment:• It gives me permission to take thetime to read, something I enjoy tremendously,but as a busy Mom too oftenplace on the back burner – Sharon• I find that I enjoy the book muchmore when I can hear the opinions ofothers and also bounce my own ideasoff them. I’ve read books for bookclub that I never would have evenpicked up much less finished on myown. I’ve also gotten to know people inthe book club at a deeper level and havebeen amazed at how insightful peopleof all ages and educational levels can bewhen discussing a book. – Elaine• I participate in an online book clubwith my friends from college who nowlive in various parts of the country. Weget online and instant message our discussion.It helps me stay in touch withthem, find out what they’re reading anddiscuss more than the daily events ofour lives. – MattBook discussions have come a longway, and of the latest ideas is the ideaof a “One Book, One Community”program. These encourage an entiretown, city, county or area to read thesame book at a specific time, encouragingmore community-based discussions,projects and programs based on thebook.Wyoming has had success with this inLaramie (Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird),Casper (Mark Spragg’s Where RiversChange Directions) and elsewhere. Manyother communities are planning theirfirst such program.Some suggest that “One Book”programs are too limiting and don’t allowpeople the freedom to explore newliterature, but the success and participationlevels seem to indicate differently.With so many libraries holding bookdiscussions, here are a few tips for successfulprograms:• The book buffet: There are manychoices. Find out what participants—orpotential participants—want. Book discussiongroups have trends. For example,several are discussing The Secret Lifeof Bees or Reading Lolita in Tehran. Yourgroup may want to join the bandwagonor stray as far from it as possible.• Page count matters: A 400-pagebook is enough to make them reconsiderparticipation. Keep the readings abit more manageable for all readers.• And time matters: Some discussiongroups meet six times a year,some chat monthly, others even morefrequently. Find out what works bestand realize that December discussionis probably more about “festivization”(my word, I take credit for it) than it isabout literary discussions.• Chat with other libraries: Nearlyall public libraries in Wyoming hostbook discussions of one kind or another.To be blunt, use each other! Askwhat books to choose, which selectionsare dogs, what formats work. Ask ifthey have copies left over you may use.• Mmmm…food…: Food is good.It encourages people to come to thesessions, it sets a relaxed and comfortableenvironment, and you can probablyfind a clever way to tie in the topic tothe cuisine. Just imagine all the possibilitieswith The Life of Pi.• Find partners: Does a local restaurantwant to house the discussion? Canyou get a local radio station (or WyomingPublic Radio) to help spread theword? Does a local bookstore want toteam with you on a discussion?• Non-Luddites read too: If yourwebsite allows, set up a book discussionmessage board and e-mail list. TwoWyoming libraries use the free OnlineBook Club, which gives all subscribersthe first few chapters of a new book,enticing them to check out the itemfrom their library.• Smiles, everyone: This may soundobvious, but if the discussion becomesa cursed obligation, rather than a worthwhileevent, something is definitelyamiss. Are the discussions not meetingthe group’s needs? Are some membersdominating the talk? Are the books notworth discussing? This is supposed tobe fun – make sure it is.So maybe now would be a perfecttime for me to encourage a discussionof The Jungle. Or Bee Season. Or anythingby Augusten Burroughs or David Sedaris.Or works by some of Wyoming’samazing authors.I’ll bring the food.Troy Rumpf is the Public Relations Specialistat Laramie County Library System.Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 19

WyomingThe 12/\Books of ChristmasDrain the swan pond and give the nine maids their severance pay.Your true love – or anyone else on your Christmas shopping list – willprefer a new book by one of these Wyoming authors. From poetry tomystery to gardening, you’ll find something for every reader on your list.Crazy Woman Creekedited by Nancy Curtis, Gaydell Collier and Linda Hasselstrom$14.00, paperback, Mariner BooksThe collection of prose and poetry in Crazy Woman Creek engages the reader from beginningto end. The authors are contemporary women who share the experience of living in thewestern United States and Canada and write about events both current and those from longago. The theme of the collection is community — what it is and what it means in daily life. Thereader learns how the authors shaped their communities: religious organizations, book clubs,sewing circles, parenting groups, women who get together to play games and engage in sportsand those who gather together for work. The authors share memories of what communitiesmean to them and how bonds of friendship can be forged over food, laughter, sorrow and hardwork. The reader learns how women who have nothing in common build communities out ofthe simple need of human companionship.Crazy Woman Creek has fewer poems than essays and these are nicely woven between theprose, offering brief accounts of the author’s lives. The essays sometimes leave the readerwanting to know more, but for the most part one is satisfied with the story told. The editors have compiled a unique collection ofhistory and sociology of western women. Crazy Woman Creek provides an entertaining although sometimes sad mix of writing forall who open its pages.Stella Terrazas, Reference LibrarianTeton County Library, JacksonWhen Washington Crossed the Delawareby Lynne Cheney, illustrated by Peter M. Fiore.$16.95, hardcover, Simon & SchusterA story of bravery and generosity is expressed in Lynne Cheney’s third children’sbook, When Washington Crossed the Delaware. Mrs. Cheney hopes that it will inspire allAmericans to begin sharing historical events.We may think of Christmas by the fire and children snug in their beds, but on the25th of December, 1776, General George Washington and his troops were far fromthe comforts of home. Our country was fighting for independence from the British,and it was not looking good. The well-trained British troops were defeating our poorlyequippedtroops.Hessians, German soldiers that the British had hired to help with the war, werestationed at Trenton, N.J. General Washington initiated a surprise attack that began onChristmas night. He and 2,400 men crossed the frozen Delaware River and arrived in Trenton, surprising the Hessians, who soonwithdrew. This was a great victory, but General Washington knew continued fights were needed for this country to be free. A brilliantstrategist, he began an attack on Princeton. Within a few hours on Jan. 3, Washington and his troops again defeated the British.The artwork by Peter M. Fiore beautifully illustrates the emotions and struggles of the men. He gives us a window back in time.While the book is limited in focus, it does illustrate the struggles the men and the country had to endure. Courage and patriotic spiritwere with each of these men, to whom we owe our independence and our gratitude.20 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004Kay Farmer, Youth Services DepartmentTeton County Library, Jackson

Trophy Huntby C.J. Box$24.95, hardcover, PutnamLewd, ludicrous things are occurring in the Big Horn Mountains as Joe Pickett, the lone game wardenin Ten Sleep County, Wyo., is attempting to unravel the mystery behind the surgical precision of amutilated moose, the castrated cowboys and the cattle that are showing up in his jurisdiction.C.J. Box masters the art of weaving a web of seemingly unrelated incidents as he strings the readeralong, crafting and delivering a complex plot with his fourth Joe Pickett mystery, Trophy Hunt.Box’s multi-faceted story line converts the complicated issues of coal bed methane into terms thelayperson can understand. His authentic voice conveys the characters’ human condition in layers. Eventhe good guys have their flaws, just like the rest of us, and perhaps this is what makes them so appealing.Pickett dreads picking up a gun because he knows he has lousy aim, yet he will go to any length toprotect his family. Mary Beth, his wife, has started her own consulting business in an attempt to helpends meet. With most of the Pickett family dinners delivered out of a box, even their two girls are feeling neglected.Dysfunctional families, greed and subtle and not so subtle sexual suggestions are brewing beneath the surface right along withunderground water and mineral rights. You won’t be able to put down this engrossing Wyoming mystery.An Unfinished Lifeby Mark Spragg$23.00, hardcover, KnopfJuli Smith, Volunteer CoordinatorTeton County Library, JacksonAn Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg tells the story of Einer, an old Wyoming rancher who haslost his wife and his only child, a son. It is the story of Mitch, Einer’s long time friend, who wasmauled by a grizzly and is nearly bedfast as a result. It is the story of Jean, Einer’s estrangeddaughter-in-law, who Einer believes killed his son. It is the story of an eleven year old girl namedGrif, Einer’s granddaughter and Jean’s daughter.Though Mitch’s wounds are the most evident, each character is wounded: Einer through lossof family, Jean through loss of husband, followed by a series of bad relationships, and Grifthrough the actions of her mother.The story is carried by Grif, who has been moved from place to place and man to man withher mother, and, while she’s a strong kid in many ways, she’s also very vulnerable. Vulnerabilitybecomes the driving force of the story.She keeps a list of things she hates about her mother. Grif is angry, not crying mad, just mad,“Like a tornado came and ruined everything and nothing’s left.” So when her mother tells her they are leaving the ranch, Grif takesthe only course she feels she can: she runs away.The book made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me think about relationships. It made me think about the ways people hurtthemselves and each other. Any book that can do that is well worth the read.People of the Ravenby Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear$25.95, hardcover, Forge BooksCheryl Wright, Administrative/Circulation AssistantPark County Library, CodyPeople of the Raven is a richly detailed tapestry of settings, characters and plot. Equal portions of intrigueand espionage, mystery and mysticism support completely realistic characters. Evening Star, Chief RainBear, healers, soul keepers, star watchers, warriors and slaves live and share the interpersonal as well as environmentalchallenge of climate change.Melting glaciers cover shorelines and alter food sources. Some tribal groups had matriarchal leadershipand others were governed by warrior societies. Detailed blood and societal relationships, an advancedcounting system and a complex time keeping strategy help portray a highly developed culture. Based onthe premise that Caucasians may have peopled North America before or parallel with the traditional theoryof a Mongoloid race from Asia settling the Northwest, the Gears’ training and experience provide a solidfoundation to support the premise this fictionalized tale spins.I went from being a skeptic (confirmed nonfiction reader) to “I can’t wait to start reading more.”Diane W. Martin, Assistant LibrarianNorthwest College John Taggart Hinckley Library, PowellWyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 21

Honor Thy Fatherby Robert Roripaugh$5.99, paperback, HarperTorchThe New York Times called former Wyoming Poet Laureate (1995-2002) Robert A. Roripaugh’sWestern Heritage Award-winning novel, Honor Thy Father, “an unconventional western enriched withinteresting shadings of character and morality.” Unlike more traditional novels in this genre, nothing inRoripaugh’s work is black and white. It is nearly impossible to place his characters into such restrictivecategories as “good” or “evil,” and the reader is left with the impression that the men and women aboutwhich Roripaugh writes are as real as anyone alive today. The novel examines the Wyoming range warsof the late 19th century, but manages to rise above mere historical fiction.At its heart, Honor Thy Father is a coming of age story as relevant and gripping today as it was uponfirst publication. Told by Mart Tyrell, youngest son of a powerful and respected rancher on the SweetwaterRiver, the novel explores the age old theme of children’s rebellion against the principles and beliefsof their parents. Through Mart’s eyes we see a family ripped apart as their way of life is forever changed by the growth of the West.Struggling to be a good son to his demanding father, Mart is torn between the way of life his father is trying to preserve and theopposing views held by his brother Ira, an outsider who sees the inevitability of homesteaders settling the land his father believes belongsto the Tyrells. Each man and a host of other characters are richly and subtly drawn. Through Mart’s heartfelt and genuine narration,readers will come to understand what Ira and Mr. Tyrell both stand for, and will grow in appreciation for both men, as Marthimself does. Roripaugh beautifully and sympathetically draws his characters, and though this is a novel with “interesting shadesof morality,” the author refrains from moralizing. Roripaugh’s respect for his characters, and masterful descriptions of the ruggedWyoming landscape, makes Honor Thy Father a rich, complex and beautiful novel that explores the ancient theme of generationalconflict through the lens of a traditional western. Suitable for public and high school libraries.Julie Edwards, Serials LibrarianRiverton Branch LibraryHigh Country Tomato Handbookby Cheryl Anderson Wright.$16.95, paperback, Pronghorn PressWyoming is the despair of both true gardeners and armchair fans – we look at snow falling on June21 and wonder how growing vegetables here is even thinkable.In her new book High Country Tomato Handbook, Park County Library circulation assistant and gardenerCheryl Anderson Wright tackles head-on the Rocky Mountain gardening trifecta of harsh and unpredictableweather, alkaline soil and resilient insects, offering personally tested advice aimed at both first-timeand experienced gardeners.Using lively, engaging prose, the book takes you step-by-step through the process of having homegrowntomatoes on hand by July 4: Wright discusses how to prepare your soil (she is a strong advocateof organic fertilizers and pesticides, and includes a useful discussion on composting), considerations inchoosing your seeds or seedlings, the necessity of “hardening” tender sprouts, what to use for mulch tokeep down weeds, how to keep plants warm and how to replenish the soil for next year’s planting.She also includes a section of delicious-sounding tomato recipes and contact information for gardeningsuppliers.The book was almost always intelligible even to a rank amateur like me, only occasionally slipping into gardener’s jargon (Icouldn’t picture what “Walls of Water” were; see http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/VegFruit/walls.htm for an explanation).Hopefully the book’s one drawback – just enough typographical errors to be irritating – can be fixed in a second printing.I expect that this book would be greeted enthusiastically by green-thumbed patrons who have a hard time finding material thataddresses the unique problems of the Rocky Mountain-area gardener.Susan Stanton, Technical Services CoordinatorNatrona County Public Library, CasperThe Children of the Rosesby Warren Adler$22.00, hardcover, LandmarkWhen you take Victoria, a lawyer who now stays home, mix in two children, an obese sister-in-law whothinks food cures everything, a man-hating mother who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and a cheating, guiltyhusband what do you get?The excitement starts with a phone call from the boarding school where son Michael is in trouble. Hebreaks a rule, and, to keep him in the prestigious school, Victoria commits a sexual act with the principal.Her husband Josh has been having an affair and when he tries to get out of it, Victoria finds out. She decidesthey will divorce and take turns living with the children in their home. They each secretly recruit help from their families whom their22 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

spouse doesn’t like. Josh asks his sister Eve and Victoria asks her mother for help with the children and house.After Josh finds out about Victoria and the principal there is a confrontation. It takes a series of personal tragedies to bring themto their senses.I had not read anything by Warren Adler before, so I did not know what to expect. I found it so interesting that I took the bookto work with me to read during my lunch hours and I read at home every time I had a spare moment. I can hardly wait to read theprequel to The Children of the Roses!Deb Kelly, Serials/Government Documents/Interlibrary LoanNorthwest College John Taggart Hinckley Library, PowelWyoming Trucks, True Love and The Weather Channelby Jeffe Kennedy$23.95, hardcover, University of New Mexico PressI have come to think a lot like a Wyomingite. I relish thedifficulties of living here; I savor the beauty that strivesmy heart and weakens my legs.Jeffe Kennedy’s book of essays, Wyoming Trucks, True Love and the Weather Channel, describes her odysseythrough life formed by both beauty and harshness of family and of environment. The stories include theadolescent girl who disdains learning to cook and sew, female skills she sees as diminishing to her sex, but inreflection those same skills allow her to find “refuge and—strength” as a woman; and a mother and daughteradventure reconnecting lost family and resolving the death of husband and father. “Thanksgiving” describes a family notdefined by blood and legal status but by love. In “Appliances,” the story is told through calendars listing family events, the destructionof a marriage and the deterioration of the mind by dementia.The environment connects the same pathos: landscape deplete of its ore and a company “working to restore some of the desolatelandscape,” the delicate balance of nature and science, “the sound of alpine wind in the tropical ocean.”Jeffe Kennedy’s journey is her growth as a daughter, stepdaughter, niece, friend, lover and biologist -- a “transformation fromwriter of helpless fawn stories to the woman who cuts up the elk hanging in her garage.” Her essays are beautifully crafted to showthe contradictions of life and death, humor and sorrow, cumulating in wisdom and understanding.The chaos and concord of this union appears in all aspectsof our lives, our arts and our intellectual pursuits. From themoment of birth we each struggle with our natures, attemptingto know ourselves.Rodeo Time in Sheridan Wyo.:A History of the Sheridan-Wyo-RodeoBy Tom Ringley$23.95, paperback, Pronghorn PressMarci Mock, Circulation Services ManagerSheridan County Fulmer Public Library, SheridanThis book is a lively history of rodeo in the Sheridan area written by Tom Ringley, a current director ofthe Sheridan-Wyo-Rodeo. With excerpts from period newspaper accounts and many fine historical photographs,Ringley details the development of the rodeo from its modest beginnings as a venue for localcowboys to the current highly ranked Sheridan-Wyo-Rodeo. Overall the book is well organized; the table ofcontents and appendices are clear and helpful to the reader, although it does not contain an index. Ringleydivides the book into many short and interesting chapters with descriptive names such as ‘The War Years,”‘The Queens,” “The Parades” and “The Events” and relates many touching or humorous anecdotes concerningthe history of the rodeo.My favorite story is of the selection by popular applause of Lucy Yellow Mule as the Sheridan-Wyo-Rodeo Queen in 1951. Lucywas the first Native American girl in history to be selected as a rodeo queen in any rodeo anywhere at a time when, according to theauthor, signs could still be seen in Sheridan shop windows stating, “No Indians or Dogs Allowed.” Rodeo Time is a recommendedacquisition for Wyoming libraries because of its readability and because it is the only book currently available on the subject of theSheridan-Wyo-Rodeo. With the publication of this book Wyoming historians and rodeo fans alike will benefit greatly from Ringley’scomprehensive research.Elaine Hayes, Information Services LibrarianLaramie County Library System, CheyenneWyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 23

Listening to Stonesby Janet Meury and Sheila Ruble$19.95, paperback, Pronghorn PressAt last — painless poetry. That’s not to say all of the poems elicit painless emotions. Rather,this collection by poets Janet Meury of Powell,Wyo., and Sheila Ruble of Billings, Mont., can beappreciated by readers who aren’t typically poetry fans.The writers share some common ground. Both are from Colorado and attended Colorado College.Their professions differ: Meury manages the Powell Branch Library while Ruble works withhorses and dogs and teaches poetry and photography workshops. But their lifelong love of poetryand its special language is evident as they skillfully capture the images of their lives in verse thatcan be appreciated by anyone. The book is another publication of Annette Chaudet’s PronghornPress in Greybull, Wyo. She continues to help burgeoning regional authors by giving them thechance they deserve to gain more recognition.Listening to Stones is artfully and subtly arranged by unannounced topics. The poets take turnswith their expressions of the seasons, nature, family, friendships, grief and miscellaneous observations.“Family Ties” tenderly describes a doe with fawns in the same meadow where Ruble’s daughterwas married. “Basslines” is a tribute to Meury’s son who pawned his bass guitar to pay for rent. It ends, “I hear again the undersongthat shaped my life, a bassline subtle and essential as grain in wood that time intensifies and polishes.”There are fun poems too, such as Ruble’s “Montana Geography Lesson,” which consists only of place names, and Meury’s “EcstasyRecollected in Tranquility,” for all fans of Yellowstone Drug in Shoshoni, Wyo.Containing more than a hundred poems, this is a collection that the authors refined over time, like fine wine, suitable for manyrelaxing evenings of enjoyable reading and re-reading.(some of) The adventures of Carlyle,my imaginary friendby Dainis Hazners$14.00, paperback, University of Iowa PressEdie Phillips, Technical ServicesPark County Library, CodyWinner of the 2003 Iowa Poetry Prize, this book-length poem relates the adventures in fantasyland ofan imaginary hero, Carlyle. Carlyle continually changes shapes in his magical morphing tour, “Carlyle asNimbus puffs columnar” and “Carlyle mercurial spilled in a white bowl…”Carlyle is not the gentle Pooh Bear accompanying a Christopher Robinson. Carlyle is kinetic, and sourceof wonderment and tour guide for a boy. Carlyle challenges ghouls, flies to stars and, starting at the bottomof a river,…spinning like a top, he borestoward core, eternalheartwhichis pulsing (jumper-jolt)…Magician/musician, Carlyle writes motets and fugues, and “when he blows across emptiness, it will sing back like a sackbut.”The joy and play of language provide energy to the images. (Dust Bunny makes a brief appearance!)While continuing to operate in a surreal landscape, the poem takes a more melancholy tone near the end, as Carlyle sings of heavenand…bores a holein his skullit’s a way to let the Gods in(out)Finally, Carlyle provides a good model for residents of windy Wyoming.He creates himselfdaily out of gust & breezeor, conversely, out of stillness:sumptuously.M. Ann Miller, Librarian, Reference/Bibliographic InstructionLaramie County Community College, Cheyenne24 Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004

KennedyContinued from page 15.Hadas, in turn, sent it to his sister,Beth, an acquisitions editor at theUniversity of New Mexico Press. Soon,Kennedy got an email from Beth Hadasasking simply – is it too late for me tobe the one to publish your first book?She had no book manuscript prepared,but Kennedy quickly pulledtogether the essays she had published,finished or reasonably close to finishedover the previous six years. To her surprise,there were 30. Enlisting the helpof her writing friends she winnowedthem down to 15, tying them togetherthematically.The publishing process was easierthan expected. The only time she kickedup a fuss was when the book designeradded “weird symbols” at the beginningof each essay that really didn’t meananything, and “everything I write aboutis how small things have great meaning.”As a first-time author, it’s been slowgetting the word out. She’s relied a loton independent bookstores, and shetries to work in appearances when shetravels for her consulting job. She’s alsoon the Wyoming Arts Council rosterand teaches writing workshops.Her next project is a book abouther sorority in college. A recent book,Pledged, by Alexandra Robbins, claimedthat the negative stereotypes about sororitieswere true – exactly the oppositeof Kennedy’s experience. Her sororitysisters were an incredibly smart groupof women, and some are still her closestfriends, and Kennedy wants to explorewomen’s relationships and the sororitysystem through her next book.It’s a long way from sharing a laboratorywith sedated bats, but Kennedy isstill hard at work finding out how wesee the world.Wyoming Library AssociationFeatured RecipeMaple Date SconesCrystalStratton,TechnicalServicesLibrarian –LaramieCountyCommunityCollege1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted1/3 cup milk1 egg, beaten2 1/2 tsp maple flavoring or extract1 tablespoons maple syrup1 1/2 cup flour1/4 cup sugar1 tablespoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar1 1/4 cup oatmeal1/3 cup dates, choppedCrystal Stratton with daughterMacey enjoying some sconesand tea while reading LittleWomen.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine butter or margarine withmilk, syrup and extract with egg in a large bowl. Set aside. Sifttogether flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar.Add gradually to milk mixture, stirring well. Add oats and datesto mixture, and mix till blended. With flour coated hands, formdough into an 8 in circle on a lightly floured cookie sheet. Cutinto 8 wedges. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Separate wedgesslightly. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.Makes 8.Wyoming Library Roundup • Fall 2004 25

Wyoming’s Poet LaureateDavid Romtvedt remembers no early intention of becominga poet. In high school, he told adults he wanted to pursue“applied literature,” not able to say he wanted to write. Hecouldn’t really admit he was a writer until the age of 38, afterhis father died.Yet in August, Governor Dave Freudenthalwas “proud and delighted” to name Romtvedtas Wyoming’s newest poet laureate.Romtvedt is a writing instructor for theUniversity of Wyoming, a National Endowmentfor the Arts fellowship recipient, co-editorof Deep West and author of nine booksof prose and poetry. His book, A FlowerWhose Name I Do Not Know, was a selectionof the National Poetry Series.“Poetry is the research laboratory oflanguage and thought,” Romtvedt said. “Thepoet’s job is to use that language as well aspossible and to show others how it can beused.” Poetry has a physical level, rooted inlove of the language. The deeper meaningcomes when poetry helps us understand othersby understanding ourselves.“Part of your job as a poet is to be an observer,”he said. “It’s like being a landscapepainter. You look both at the surface andbeneath the surface.”Poetry has political impact in a world where not everyonefeels they can speak freely. “Poets have a certain degree ofprivilege,” Romtvedt said. “They’re already suspect. A writer’sjob is to take the masks off, while society tries to tie theDavid Romtvedt plays button accordionwith The Fireants, a northern-Wyomingbased band that performs traditional andoriginal dance music of the Americas– everything from Cajun/Zydeco toCalypso to polka.masks on tighter.”Reading is inextricably connected to Romtvedt’s writing. Hegrew up in a home with few books, but read voraciously and“used the library like mad.” A self-described “partisan” forthe idea that libraries are the highest formof public education, he strongly supportslibrary programming. He hopes his post aspoet laureate will allow him to develop moreprograms that give poetry an honored placein society and a meaningful role in our lives.In Romtvedt’s writing classes, he seesstudents who are incredibly incisive andthoughtful, able to let down their guard andproduce meaningful work. The young havemore than enough life experience to write,Romtvedt believes, but some of us havebeen trained not to be in touch with our ownknowledge.He also sees students who, like himself,find that their life ambitions conflict withwhat their parents want for them. As a child,reading was part of what made life bearablefor Romtvedt. It gave him opportunity toimagine other lives, other worlds. It gave himopportunity to shape his own life, includinghis hidden ambition to write, despite hisfather’s disapproval. This is perhaps the most powerful and,some would say most dangerous, part of the written word – itallows us to envision another life.“If you have a vision of another life,” Romtvedt said, “youcan imagine that you can make another life.”hp://will.state.wy.us/roundupThe Wyoming Library Roundup is a quarterly publication of the Wyoming State Library, the WyomingLibrary Association and the Wyoming Center for the Book. If you would like to continue to be on ourmailing list, if your address has an error that needs correction or you know of someone who would liketheir name added or you would like your name removed from our mailing list, please send your request to:Wyoming State Library, Publications and Marketing Office, 2301 Capitol Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82002.WyomingLibraryRoundupWyoming State Library2301 Capitol AvenueCheyenne, WY 82002PresortedStandardU.S. PostagePAIDCheyenne, WYPermit. No. 7CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED