Summer 2007 - the Wyoming State Library

LibraryWyomingSummer 2007Rounduptable of contentsUnited States SenatorMike Enzi.............................................3Meet the Authors...........................4Friday writing workshops.........9A humanities discussionWyoming Talks-About Books ...10Former librarian continues to help readersNancy Pearl...................................................... 11Wyoming native revisits past in newest bookRon Franscell.................................................. 12Connection with reader and the West motivate writerWill Hobbs......................................................... 13Wyoming reads My AntoniaThe Big Read................................ 14Author’s river writing journeys top Oprah’s getawaysPage Lambert................................................. 17Laramie writer tells story of Wyoming’s barsJuliette Couch................................................. 18Warden tells tales of rugged, colorful people of WestJay Lawson......................................................... 19Love of literature shines through books, genesPatricia MacLachlan.............................. 20Wyoming author uses sense of humor to promote librariesCraig Johnson................................................. 21Journey of 19th century woman brought to lifeNan Weber......................................................... 22Author sends message of life after warLee Alley............................................................... 23Writer surrounds himself in world of literature artMichael Shay................................................... 24Festival brings author homePaisley Rekdal................................................ 25Author encourages other writersJohn Nesbitt..................................................... 26Hippie era will return for boomersTim Sandlin...................................................... 27Wyoming daughter pays tribute to family, land, heritageEcho Roy Klaproth.................................. 28Help support theWyoming Book Festival...... 29Wyoming Book FestivalVenues.............................................................. 30Wyoming Book FestivalMap........................................................................ 31Wyoming Book FestivalSchedule of Events............... 32U.S. Mint releasesWyoming State Quarter...................... 34Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007

The Wyoming BookFestival is a project of theWyoming Center for theBook, supportedwith financial andin-kind support in part by:Platinum sponsorsLibraryWyomingRoundupOfficial publication of theWyoming State Library,the Wyoming Library Association,and the Wyoming Center for the BookVolume 49, Number 3, Summer 2007ISSN: 0043-9738Tina LackeyEditor and DesignerSusan VittitowAssistant Editor and WriterLesley LipskaWriter and ContributorGold SponsorsWyoming State LibraryPublications and Marketing Office516 South Greeley Hwy., Cheyenne, WY 82002307/777-6338Silver SponsorsBronze SponsorsWyoming Library Roundup is published quarterly by theWyoming Library Association and the Wyoming State Library.All rights reserved. Contents of this magazine may not bereproduced without the express permission of the publishers.Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007The 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.

Wyoming Book Festival: Meet the authorsThe Wyoming Book Festival has a great lineup of authors, presenters and panelmoderators. You’ll find features on many of them throughout this issue of the WyomingLibrary Roundup. Here’s the highlights on the rest of the list. Find their complete biosand pictures on our festival web site at www.wyomingbookfestival.org/authors.html.Lee AlleySee article on page 23.Bess ArnoldBess Arnold is a Cheyenne freelancewriter who has authored or co-authoredseveral books about the Union Pacificrailroad and depot, including her mostrecent: Union Pacific: Saving a Big Boy andOther Railroad Stories.Speaking: 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Home &Garden/Non-Fiction TentBook signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayCraig ArnoldCraig Arnold teaches and directs theVisiting Writers Series at the Universityof Wyoming MFA Program. His firstbook Shells won the 1998 Yale Seriesof Younger Poets award. Among hishonors are a National Endowment forthe Arts fellowship. He is currentlyworking on a book about volcanoes andthe end of the world as we know it.Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, Poetry TentBook signing: 11:30 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Moderator, Poetry in the AmericanWest, 2:15 p.m., Saturday, Poetry TentC.J. BoxAn avid outdoorsman, C.J. Box writesmysteries set in Wyoming and featuringgame warden Joe Pickett. The seventhbook in the nationally best-selling andaward-winning series, FreeFire, wasreleased in 2007 to critical acclaim. Hisnovels have been translated into 12languages.Speaking: Noon, Saturday, Mystery & CrimeTentBook signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayPanel: Getting Published: A Panel Discussion,4:30 p.m., Friday, Depot; and MysteriousWays, 10 a.m., Saturday, Plains HotelLarry K. BrownFrom The Hog Ranches of Wyoming to hismost recent Bad in the Good Old Days,Larry K. Brown writes with a senseof humor about the West’s less-savorycharacters. His writing credits includeseven books and numerous articles,including in the journals of the National4Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007and Western Outlaw and Lawmanassociations.Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, Mystery &Crime TentBook signing: 11 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Crime and Punishment, Noon,Saturday, Plains HotelB.J. BuckleyPoet and writer B.J. Buckley is a nativeWyomingite now living and writing inMontana. She has worked with childrenin Arts in Schools Programs throughoutthe Rocky Mountain West for morethan 30 years. Her most recent book,with fellow Wyoming poet DawnSenior-Trask, is Moonhorses And The RedBull, from Pronghorn Press.Speaking: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, LaramieCounty Library-Amphitheater; and Noon,Saturday, Poetry TentBook signing: 11:30 a.m., SaturdayChip CarlsonChip Carlson, a 30-year Cheyenneresident, is an acknowledged authorityon Tom Horn, Wyoming’s infamouscattle detective. Twenty years ofCarlson’s research has resulted in threebooks, the most recent of which wonthe prestigious Annual Award forhistory/biography from the WyomingState Historical Society.Speaking: 10:30 p.m., Saturday, Mystery &Crime Tent.Book signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayPanel: Crime and Punishment, Noon,Saturday, Plains HotelBarbara ChattonBarbara Chatton is a professor at theUniversity of Wyoming where shehas taught courses in children’s andyoung adult literature for the past 25years. She writes and speaks frequentlyon children’s poetry, literature ofthe American West, and the valueof reading and literature across thecurriculum.Panel: What the Kids are Reading, 10 a.m.,Saturday, Laramie County Library-WillowMargaret CoelMargaret Coel is the author of theWind River series of mystery novels setamong the Arapahos on the Wind RiverReservation. The Girl With Braided Hair,13th in the series, will be publishedin September 2007. Her novels haveappeared on numerous bestseller lists,including the New York Times, the LosAngeles Times, and the Denver Post.Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, Mystery &Crime TentBook signing: 11:30 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Mysterious Ways, 10 a.m., Saturday,Plains HotelGaydell CollierGaydell Collier has been ranching andwriting in Wyoming for more than 50years. She is one of the three co-editorsof the Wind series of books: Leaninginto the Wind, Woven on the Wind andCrazy Woman Creek. She is a recipient ofthe Governor’s Arts Award and a longtimemember of Bearlodge Writers andWyoming Writers.Book signing: Wind Books, 12:30 p.m.,SaturdayPanel: Wind Books, 1:30 p.m., Saturday,Wyoming & the West/Road Trips TentJulianne CouchSee article on page 18.Beverly CoxBeverly Cox comes from an oldWyoming ranching family. She is thefood editor of Native Peoples Magazine,and the author of 13 cookbooks,including Spirit of the West, Cooking fromRanch House and Range, winner of a JuliaChild award in 1997. Her latest bookco-authored with food photographerMartin Jacobs, is Eating Cuban, 120Authentic Recipes from the Street of Havanato American Shores.Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, Home &Garden/Non-Fiction TentBook signing: 10:30 a.m., SaturdayNancy CurtisCurtis is the publisher of High PlainsPress in Glendo, Wyoming. She is also

for more than twenty years. Her cowboypoetry is a diary of her ranchingexperience. She has three chapbooksand a CD out.Speaking: 11:15 a.m., Entertainment Stage.Book signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayWilliam Haywood HendersonHenderson is the author of threenovels set primarily in Wyoming: Native,The Rest of the Earth, and the recentlyreleased Augusta Locke, a finalist forboth the Mountains & Plains award andthe Spur award. He lives in Denver andteaches creative writing at LighthouseWriters Workshop and the University ofDenver.Speaking: 12:45 p.m., Saturday, Fiction TentBook signing: 2 p.m., SaturdayHarvey HixH.L. Hix is a professor and the directorof the creative writing MFA programat the University of Wyoming. He hasauthored 10 books, five in poetry. Hislatest, Chromatic, was one of five finalistsin 2006 for the National Book Award inpoetry. Among his honors are the T.S.Eliot Prize and a fellowship from theNational Endowment for the Arts.Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, Poetry TentBook signing: 10 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Poetry in the American West, 2:15p.m., Saturday, Poetry TentWill HobbsSee article on page 13.Kevin HoldsworthKevin Holdsworth’s first book, BigWonderful: Notes from Wyoming, beganas individual poems and essays thatcoalesced around broader themesabout Wyoming: family, heritage,wildlife, landscape and boom and bust.Holdsworth is an English instructor atWestern Wyoming Community College.Speaking: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Wyoming &the West/Road Trips TentBook signing: Noon, SaturdayMarion McMillan HuseasAward-winning author, MarionMcMillan Huseas, former curator at theWyoming State Museum, has writtenfour books. Her latest, Legacy of Fear:Mark Hopkinson and the Bridger ValleyMurders, examines a notorious Wyomingcrime. The book has been highlypraised by readers nationwide. She livesin Cheyenne.Speaking: 2:15 p.m., Saturday, Mystery and Crime TentBook signing: 11 a.m., Saturday.Panel: Crime and Punishment, Noon, Saturday,Plains HotelPaul JensenPaul Jensen traded in a 30-year career inthe upper levels of national politics andbusiness for a life-long dream of livingand working in ranch country nearDaniel, Wyoming. His book, Hard andNoble Lives: A Living Tradition of Cowboysand Ranchers in Wyoming’s Hoback Basin, isa story of the settlement in that part ofnorthwestern Wyoming.Speaking: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, History TentBook signing: 12:30 p.m., SaturdayCraig JohnsonSee article on page 21.Mark JungeHistorian and photographer Mark Jungehas called Wyoming home since 1967He served as Wyoming State Historianand as editor of the state’s quarterlyhistory magazine, Annals of Wyoming,before retiring in 1995. His booksinclude A View from Center Street, TheWind is My Witness, Wyoming, a PictorialHistory and J.E. Stimson, Photographer ofthe West.Speaking: 11:15 a.m., Saturday, History TentBook signing: 12:30 p.m., SaturdayRachel KahanRachel Kahan has been a senior editorat Putnam since 2005, after eight yearsat Crown. She has been a guest lecturerat the Columbia School of Journalism,New York University, the City Collegeof New York as well as at many writers’conferences both in the U.S. andabroad.Speaking: 3:15 p.m., Saturday, LibrariesTentPanel: Getting Published: A Panel Discussion,4:30 p.m., Friday, DepotWorkshop: How to Catch an Editor’s Eye,1:30 p.m., Friday, Atlas TheatreJeffe KennedyJeffe Kennedy took the crooked road towriting, stopping off at neurobiology,religious studies and environmentalconsulting before her creative writingbegan appearing in print. Her firstcollection, Wyoming Trucks, True Loveand the Weather Channel was publishedby University of New Mexico Press in2004.Speaking: Noon, Saturday, Wyoming & theWest/Road Trips TentBook signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayPanel: Panelist, Women and Spirit, 10 a.m.,Saturday, Plains HotelTed KerasoteTed Kerasote’s is the author andeditor of six books on nature andthe outdoors. The latest, Merle’s Door:Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, examineshow the dog-human partnershipcan become far more than we haveimagined. Kerasote has lived in GrandTeton National Park for nearly a quarterof a century and has often addressedWyoming’s wildlife and conservationissues.Speaking: 12:45 p.m., Saturday, Nature &Outdoors TentBook signing: 2 p.m., SaturdayGinny KilanderGinny Kilander is a faculty referencearchivist at the University of Wyoming’sAmerican Heritage Center, and anartist and paper marbler. She enjoysthe modern practices of marbling andpapermaking, in addition to the richhistories of each art form. Her marblinghas been exhibited internationally.Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, LibrariesTentEcho KlaprothSee article on page 28.Rob KoellingRob Koelling is a Professor of Englishand Chair of the Humanities Divisionat Northwest College in Powell. He’sbeen involved in a wide range of literaryand humanities programming aroundWyoming, including a stint on theHumanities Council. Along with hiswife, Deborah, he currently maintainsthe weblog “nHumanities.”Panel: Moderator, Mysterious Ways, 10 a.m.,Saturday, Plains HotelPage LambertSee article on page 17.Jay LawsonSee article on page 19.Vicki LindnerVicki Lindner is a fiction writer, essayist,and journalist. An Associate ProfessorEmerita at the University of Wyoming,she has taught creative writing toteenagers and adults throughout theWest since 1988. Among her honorsis a fellowship from the NationalEndowment for the Arts and two fromthe Wyoming Arts Council.Panel: Panelist, New West, Old West, 2 p.m.,Saturday, Plains HotelJeff LockwoodJeff Lockwood, author of Locus,was originally hired as an AssistantProfessor of Entomology at theUniversity of Wyoming. He now6Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007

teaches nature and spiritual/religiouswriting, environmental ethics, andphilosophy of ecology. His currentbook project is: Six-Legged Soldiers: TheUse of Insects as Weapons of War andTerror (Oxford University Press).Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, Nature &Outdoors TentBook signing: 10:30 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Moderator, At Home in Nature,Noon, Saturday, Plains HotelWorkshop: Nature Writing, 2:30 p.m.,Friday, Laramie County Library-SunflowerRoomPatricia MacLachlanSee article on page 20.Richard J. Maturi & MaryBuckingham MaturiBoth of the Maturis are highlysuccessful non-fiction writers. Richardhas 21 books out on topics frominvesting to sports and cinema history.The husband-wife team co-authoredseveral of them. Mary’s is currentlyworking a book based on her childhoodmemories growing up in a parsonage.Richard currently works on a screenplaybased on his latest book, the sportsbiography, Triple Crown Winner: The EarlSande Saga.Speaking: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Home &Garden/Non-Fiction TentBook signing: 12:30 p.m., SaturdayKyle MillsKyle Mills is the New York Timesbestselling author of eight political andsocial crime thrillers. He initially foundinspiration from his father, a formerFBI agent and director of Interpol,who is still able to put Kyle in touchwith the people that give his books theirsense of realism. His latest novel, TheSecond Horseman, was recently released inpaperback.Speaking: 11:15 a.m., Saturday, Mystery &Crime TentBook signing: 10 a.m., SaturdayPanel: From Sci-Fi to Romance: GenreFiction, 2 p.m., Saturday, Plains HotelAbe MorrisChampion bull rider Abe Morris wasthe first African-American to competeon the University of Wyoming’s rodeoteam in 1974. He went on to competeon the Professional Rodeo CowboysAssociation (PRCA) circuit. His book,My Cowboy Hat Still Fits, tells the storyof his rodeo career.Speaking: Noon, Saturday, Nature &Outdoors TentBook signing: 2 p.m., SaturdayDick Morton and Jane MortonThe Mortons are cowboy poets withdeep roots in the West. Dick Morton’sgrandparents settled in Colorado in1870. Jane Morton’s family has owneda ranch near Fort Morgan, Coloradosince 1915, where Dick got his “rancheducation” after marrying her. Bothare part of a special cowboy poetryperformance on the Wyoming BookFestival entertainment stage. Dick hasone CD out: Cowboy Classics. Jane wasrecently selected as the Cowgirl Poet ofthe Year by the Academy of WesternArtists.Speaking: 11:15 a.m., Entertainment Stage.Book signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayCandy MoultonCandy Moulton has written or cowritteneleven Western history booksincluding Chief Joseph: Guardian of thePeople, which won a Spur Award fromWestern Writers of America in 2006,and Steamboat: Legendary Bucking Horse.She makes her home near Encampment,Wyoming, where she edits the WesternWriters of America Roundup Magazine.Speaking: Noon, Saturday, History TentBook signing: 1 p.m., SaturdayWarren MurphyWarren Murphy is an ordainedEpiscopal priest and the director ofthe Wyoming Association of Churcheswhere he works to bring together thefaith and secular communities in orderto advocate for positive change inWyoming. Currently he is researching abook that will tell the story of religionand spirituality in Wyoming’s history.Panel: Moderator, Women and Spirit, 10a.m., Saturday, Plains HotelW. Dale NelsonW. Dale Nelson spent 40 years as areporter for the Associated Press, firstin western bureaus and then for 20years in Washington D.C. He is theauthor of four books, most recently:Gin Before Breakfast: The Dilemma ofthe Poet in the Newsroom. Nelson livesin Laramie, where he has served as aCasper Star-Tribune correspondent inrecent years.Speaking: 12:45 p.m., Saturday, History TentBook signing: 10:30 a.m., SaturdayJohn D. NesbittSee article on page 26.Eric NyeEric Nye is a founding member andchair of the Wyoming Center for theBook, and currently chairs the volunteerboard. He is an Associate Professorin the University of Wyoming’sDepartment of English and holds anM.A. and PhD in English from theUniversity of Chicago. His teaching andresearch include issues in book cultureand publishing history.Workshop: Old Books Roadshow, 12:45 p.m.,Saturday, Libraries TentGeoffrey O’GaraGeoffrey O’Gara’s books include ALong Road Home (Houghton-Mifflin),about his travels with the 1930s WPAguides; What You See in Clear Water(Knopf), about the battle betweenIndians and whites over control ofwater in the West; and a number oftravel guides. He has written, produced,and hosted programs for WyomingPublic Television since 1991.Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, Wyoming &the West/Road Trips TentBook signing: 11:30 a.m., SaturdayPanel: New West, Old West, 2 p.m.,Saturday, Plains HotelNancy PearlSee article on page 11.C. L. RawlinsPoet and writer C. L. Rawlins was bornin Laramie and has been an advocatefor wilderness and wildlife. He workedwith the Forest Service from 1977-92as a firefighter, range rider, and fieldhydrologist. His second book of poems,In Gravity National Park, won the 1999poetry prize from the Mountain andPlains Booksellers Association. He coauthoredThe Complete Walker IV withColin Fletcher.Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, Nature &Outdoors TentBook signing: 11 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Panelist, At Home in Nature, Noon,Saturday, Plains HotelTom ReaTom Rea is a freelance writer and editorliving in Casper. He worked for manyyears as a reporter and editor on theCasper Star-Tribune. He is the author ofseveral books about Wyoming’s history,including Bone Wars: The Excavation andCelebrity of Andrew Carnegie’s Dinosaur,and most recently, Devil’s Gate: Owningthe Land, Owning the Story.Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, History TentBook signing: 10 a.m., SaturdayPanel: New West, Old West, 2 p.m.,Saturday, Plains HotelWorkshop: Narrating the Past, 12:30 p.m.,Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 7

Friday, Laramie County Library-SunflowerRoom; and New West, Old West, 2 p.m.,Saturday, Plains HotelTom ReedA life-long Westerner, Tom Reed is theauthor of Great Wyoming Bear Stories,a work compiled through dozens ofpersonal interviews with people whoselives had been changed—positively andnegatively—by Wyoming bruins. Mostrecently, he wrote Give Me Mountains ForMy Horses, a collection of essays. He wasthe publications manager for NOLS(National Outdoor Leadership School)for nearly ten years.Speaking: 2:15 p.m., Saturday, Nature &Outdoors TentBook signing: 10 a.m., SaturdayPaisley RekdalSee article on page 25.Jeanne RogersJeanne Rogers has worked at variousjobs over the years—waitress, gasstation attendant, flag-girl, floraldesigner, bookkeeper, cashier, volleyballofficial, bus driver, constructionlaborer, weed sprayer, haying operator,draftsman—but likes writing best. Herfirst book is out this year on the historyof Devils Tower National Monument.Speaking: 3 p.m., Saturday, History TentBook signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayPanel: Women and Spirit, 10 a.m., Saturday,Plains HotelDavid RomtvedtDavid Romtvedt’s books of poetryinclude Certainty, How Many Horses, andA Flower Whose Name I Do Not Knowwhich won a National Poetry Seriesaward. His work has been selected forthe Pushcart Prize and for two NationalEndowment for the Arts fellowships.He is a recipient the WyomingGovernor’s Arts Award. Romtvedtserves as faculty member in the MFAprogram for writers at University ofWyoming.Speaking: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Poetry TentBook signing: Noon, SaturdayPanel: Poetry in the American West, 2:15p.m., Saturday, Poetry TentWilliam Bradford Ross, IIIRoss is the grandson of WyomingGovernor Nellie Tayloe Ross, who in1924 became the first woman in theU.S. elected as a state governor. Mr.Ross and his wife, Robinette DavisRoss, have developed a website at www.nellietayloeross.com and have workedwith Wyoming Public Television tobring the story of his grandmother’slife, times and legacy to a wideraudience. Mr. Ross has been engaged inthe real estate and mortgage businessfor the past 25 years. In 1998, he retiredand began a new endeavor managingMaiden Point Farm where he raisespurebred Angus cattle and breedshorses.Speaking: Noon, Saturday, Laramie CountyLibrary-Willow RoomTim SandlinSee article on page 27.Katharine SandsA literary agent with the Sarah JaneFreymann Literary Agency, Katharinehas worked with a wide variety ofauthors. She is the editor of Makingthe Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a LiteraryAgent’s Eye, a collection of pitchingwisdom from leading literary agents.Speaking: 2:30 p.m., Saturday, LibrariesTentPanel: Getting Published: A Panel Discussion,4:30 p.m., FridayWorkshop: PitchCraft, 12:30 p.m., Friday,Atlas TheatreTeva J. ScheerTeva J. Scheer is a former governmentmanager and a former Adjunct Facultymember at the Graduate School ofPublic Affairs, University of Coloradoat Denver. Dr. Scheer and her husbandlive in Sidney, British Columbia, whereshe is at work on her second book. Herfirst book, published in December 2005,was Governor Lady, the biography ofWyoming’s first female governor, NellieTayloe Ross.Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, History TentBook signing: 11:30 a.m., SaturdayWorkshop: The Art of Biography: Problems,Perils and Promise, 3:30 p.m., Friday,Laramie County Library-Willow RoomMichael ShaySee article on page 24.Cat UrbigkitAuthor and photographer Cat Urbigkithas published four non-fiction children’spicture books that promote positiveviews of agriculture: Brave Dogs, GentleDogs; A Young Shepherd; Puppies, PuppiesEverywhere!; and Cattle Kids. She and herfamily are sheep and cattle producers inwestern Wyoming, where they also raiseguardian dogs.Speaking: Noon, Saturday, Laramie CountyLibrary-AmphitheaterBook signing: 1 p.m., SaturdayPanel: What the Kids are Reading, 10 a.m.,Saturday, Laramie County Library-WillowJohn R. WashakieJohn R. Washakie, a member of theEastern Shoshone Tribe, is author ofthe children’s stories Yuse, The Bully &the Bear and Yuse & the Spirit. He is thegreat grandson of Chief Washakie. Hesays he was just a good listener whenhis grandmother, uncles, or anyoneelse told stories. With the traditionof storytelling waning, John decidedto print and publish these traditionalstories so that they could be passed on.Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, LaramieCounty Library-AmphitheaterBook signing: 11 a.m., SaturdayBrad WatsonBrad Watson is originally fromMississippi and now teaches in theMFA in Creative Writing Program atthe University of Wyoming. He is theauthor of two books of fiction, LastDays of the Dog-Men and The Heaven ofMercury, a finalist for the 2002 NationalBook Award in Fiction.Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, Fiction TentBook signing: 11:30 a.m., SaturdayNAn WeberSee article on page 22.Lee WhittleseyLee Whittlesey has been with theNational Park Service for 16 years andis the senior historian for YellowstoneNational Park. He has several bookson the park. His latest, Storytelling inYellowstone: Horse and Buggy Tour Guides,he relays the stories 19 th -centurytourists might have heard at the parkand examines the role that propaganda,photos, lectures and guidebooks playedinto perpetuating the Yellowstone myth.Speaking: 2:15 p.m., Saturday, History TentBook signing: 10:30 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Moderator, Crime and Punishment,Noon, Saturday, Plains HotelCheryl Anderson WrightMaster Gardener Cheryl AndersonWright focuses her considerableknowledge on the problems of growingplants in areas with short growingseasons and unpredictable weather inher three books, High Country Herbs,High Country Tomato Handbook and HighCountry Veggies. Her practical advice anddown to earth recommendations guidesthe reader from seed to table.Speaking: 12:45 p.m., Saturday, Home &Garden/Non-Fiction TentBook signing: 2 p.m., Saturday8Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007

Friday writing workshops at theWyoming Book FestivalBook festivals are for readers, but they’re also for writers. At the Wyoming Book Festival, not only can you meetand mingle with some great authors, but you can also take advantage of free workshops in a special writing track onFriday afternoon. The afternoon ends with a panel discussion on how you can see your own work published. Thesesessions are free and open to the public, seating is first-come, first-served. Check out these offerings and make yourplans to come to the Wyoming Book Festival!Linda Hasselstrom – RagtimeRhythm: How To SyncopateYour PoemsHasselstrom will discuss and demonstratewriting with appropriate rhythm in bothrhymed and free verse, with handouts sostudents can practice at home.12:30 p.m., Laramie County Library, WillowRoomTom Rea – Narrating the PastUsing examples from his own work,prizewinning nonfiction writer Tom Reashows how he constructs a narrative fromoriginal historical sources.12:30 p.m., Laramie County Library,Sunflower RoomKatharine Sands – PitchCraftAn eye-opening, nuts-and-boltsintroduction to pitching fiction andnonfiction book proposals to agents.12:30 p.m., Atlas TheatreMasha Hamilton – Hypocrisy,Hyperbole and Lies, A Look AtDialogueLet’s talk about talk – including subtextand silence – since dialogue is the mortarthat holds our fiction together. It willinclude a writing exercise.1:30 p.m., Laramie County Library, WillowRoomJeff Lockwood – Nature WritingNature writing is perhaps the easiestgenre to do badly and the hardest todo well, but when it works its power isunparalleled. This workshop will playfullyexplore some techniques to get yournature-based piece off on the right foot,paw, fin, or root.1:30 p.m., Laramie County Library, SunflowerRoomRachel Kahan – How to Catch anEditor’s EyeAn editor at a major publishing house tellsyou what she looks for in an unpublishedmanuscript, and walks you through theprocess of manuscript submission andacquisition.1:30 p.m., Atlas TheatreTina Ann Forkner – Write Fromthe Heart: How to Find YourVoiceWe must look deep inside ourselves tofind our writing voices and that meansfinding out who we are and how ourpassions, and sometimes obsessions,define our writing.2:30 p.m., Laramie County Library, WillowRoomAmanda Harte – GreatBeginnings: How to Hook anEditorIn addition to presenting basic precepts,this workshop uses examples – both goodand bad – to show writers how to begintheir books.2:30 p.m., Laramie County Library, SunflowerRoomCraig Johnson – CannibalizingYour Friends and Family forCharactersThey’re never going to recognizethemselves in your novel anyway, so findout how to build better fictional charactersusing the people you know2:30 p.m., Atlas TheatreTeva Scheer – The Art ofBiography: Problems, Perils andPromiseA “Wyoming Talks – About Books”humanities discussion: using slides,breakout discussions, a handout, anda Q&A session, Scheer will invite theaudience to consider some of the issuesrelated to the project of researching andwriting a biography.3:30 p.m., Laramie County Library, WillowRoomGene Gagliano – So You Want toWrite a Children’s BookGagliano shares practical information onbecoming a children’s book author basedon actual experience with tips on how to“show and not tell,” using your sensesto get ideas, goal setting and motivation,scheduling, marketing and dealing withrejection.3:30 p.m., Atlas TheatreGetting Published: A PanelDiscussionIn writer’s heaven, your work getspublished. It happens here on earth, too– find out how! Learn the ins and outsof getting your work into print from theperspective of authors, editors, agents andpublishers.Moderated by Carl Schreier, HomesteadPublishing. Panelists: C.J. Box, Tina AnnForkner, Rachel Kahan and Katharine Sands.4:30 p.m., Cheyenne DepotIndividual and small group consultation timeswith an editors or agent will be available onSaturday, Sept. 15. No critiques. Signups will beavailable at the workshops.Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 9

Wyoming nativerevisits past innewest bookEveryone has that moment in their life wherethey stop believing. They stop believing allpeople are good and begin worrying about theirsafety.That moment for author Ron Franscell, whois a featured author at the Wyoming BookFestival, was Sept. 24, 1973. This was the day hisfriends and neighbors Amy Burridge, 11, andher half-sister Becky Thomson, 18, were thrownfrom a Casper bridge by two men. Amy waskilled in the fall, while Becky died 19 years laterat that same spot.“It was for me, personally, that momentwhen the illusions about safety fall away.Up to that point you’re a kid and you’regrowing up in a small town and you’rethinking this wouldn’t happen here. Youknow what; you don’t even think that,because you don’t even know what’spossible. You’re not thinking aboutviolence setting in among you. You’renot thinking about evil coming,” theauthor says.Franscell returns to his hometown andthis moment in his latest book, Fall: TheRape and Murder of Innocence in a SmallTown.“I simply wanted to get beneath theskin of this place where I grew up,” saysthe author.“I wanted to ask some questions thatI didn’t know the answers to, to see whyone event could stick in the memory theway this particular event did.”Another day that sticks in people’smemories is the events of Sept. 11, 2001.Franscell, who is a journalist, workedfor The Denver Post during the attacksand was quickly sent to the Middle East.On his return home, he recalls lookingat photos of the attack in a Frenchmagazine. The photos were of peoplewho had jumped from a World TradeCenter building and one in particularshowed two people holding hands asthey fell. He doesn’t know if it was thefatigue or the long flight, but Franscellwas immediately taken back 30 years towhat happened to his friends.“I’m looking at these photos from theWTC and I’m thinking of a differentterror, not the morning of terror ofSept. 11, but the night of Sept 24, 1973and then they began to blend,” Franscellsays.He began to think of it as a storyto how people deal with this kind ofterror and within the next year he beganworking on Fall.“I knew a book would come from it,because I knew that the issues were thatbig. They were bigger than my curiosity,”Franscell says.He returned home to talk to the peoplewho knew Becky and Amy best, whoknew what had happened. To manypeople he says this is still an openwound for them, but the people of hishometown were glad it was “one of us”who was trying to uncover the truth.“If writing it down and telling thetruth about what happened and moreimportantly what didn’t happen willhelp people, then that’s good. I guess Ihave an abiding faith as a journalist thatspeaking the truth the best we can istherapeutic. It doesn’t hurt. That doesn’tmean that there aren’t facts that don’tcause some pain,” he says.One of the most important partsfor Franscell was speaking to the oneremaining killer, Ronald Kennedy.Franscell’s background as a journalistmakes it important for him to step backfrom his personal feelings and get bothsides of the story.“Some people have certainly said thatI gave a rapist killer a chapter in a book.Others have marveled the mind that wasreflected there. It’s really up to the reader.I did what I thought was the right thingto do.”Franscell insists that he is not a truecrime writer and his next book will notbe a true crime book. His first book,Angel Fire, was a contemporary fictionand his second book, The Deadline, was amystery. He says he writes what he wantsto write, whether or not that falls into acertain literary category.“I am at bottom a story teller and I tellthe story that presents itself. I’m gonnatell the story that I want to tell, that’s justwhere my heart lies,” he says.Speaking: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Mystery & Crime TentBook signing: 10:30 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Crime Panel, Noon, Saturday, Plains Hotel12Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007

Connection with reader and theWest motivate writerWill Hobbs, who is attending the Wyoming Book Festival, is an award-winning authorof 16 novels for upper elementary, middle school and young adult readers.What is your favorite thing aboutwriting?I enjoy the improvisation that happenson a good day during first-draft writing,when my subconscious is in play and myfingers are flying. But the very best part iswhen the book finally comes out and findsreaders.What made you decide to write booksfor younger audiences?It was just a natural fit. As a seventh gradeteacher, I had a classroom library of 500-600 books, mostly novels written for youngpeople. It was a case of “I want to do that!”For several years you were a teacher.What influence does teaching have onyour writing?Actually it was 17 years of teaching—reading and English. That’s definitely wheremy sense of audience comes from. I knowhow easily kids will puta book down. A youngadult novel has to becompelling, challenging,and never lacking forclarity.What role does theWest play in yourwriting?Huge—I want to takekids into the amazingwild places of the NorthAmerican West andintroduce them to the“real world” as I thinkof it. My experiences inwilderness have been thestarting points for almostall of my seventeennovels.What motivates you asa writer?My biggest motivationis making the connectionwith readers: having themtell me, in person or incorrespondence, that the story really tookthem places, that they identified with thecharacter, that they learned something, thatthe novel moved them.You do a good job at connecting withyounger readers, how do you do it?By never writing down to them—I’m stillpretty connected to my own feelings fromthose years, and I have lots of nieces andnephews who keep me young.What is your latest project?My latest is Crossing the Wire, about a 15-year-old boy from central Mexico whosuddenly discovers that he can no longersell the corn he’s been raising to supporthis mother, four sisters, and little brother.With virtually no money and no one withexperience to show him the way, VictorFlores has to journey “across the wire”into the United States to find work andsend money home. It’s a very different sortof adventure/survival novel, all too real.My goal was to put a human face on thecomplex and controversial subject of illegalimmigration.Is there anything you would like toadd?Yes! I was awarded Wyoming’s readervotedIndian Paintbrush Award for mynovel, Down the Yukon. Coming from thekids, this was a huge honor, and I wantto thank them and all the teachers andlibrarians who make the Paintbrush Awardpossible.Speaking: 3:15 p.m., Saturday, Laramie CountyLibrary-LarkspurBook signing: Noon, SaturdayPanel: Children’s Writing, 10 a.m., Saturday,Laramie County Library-WillowWill Hobbs with the real-life bald eaglethat inspired the eagle names LIBERTYin his novel, Jackie’s Wild Seattle.Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 13

Wyoming ReadsMy ÁntoniaIt’s a Big Read for a big state. This fall,people in 13 of Wyoming’s 23 countieswill all read, discuss and fall in love withthe same book: My Ántonia by WillaCather.It’s all part of The Big Read, a programof the National Endowment for the Arts(NEA) that aims to put great Americanliterature squarely in the forefront incommunities nationwide.My Ántonia is Cather’s classic novel thatexplores the struggle of pioneer life onthe prairie. The story centers on a spiritedBohemian immigrant girl, ÁntoniaShimerda (pronounced AN-ton-ee-ah,stressing first syllable, as in “Anthony”).The story is told through the eyes ofÁntonia’s childhood friend, Jim Burden.Wyoming’s Big Read starts onSeptember 12 when Wyoming PublicTelevision airs the documentary, “WillaCather: The Road is All.” It gets its bigkickoff with several events at WyomingBook Festival on September 15, includinga free giveaway of 1,000 books.From there, The Big Read moves outinto community events in 13 counties:Albany, Campbell, Converse, Fremont,Johnson, Laramie, Lincoln, Niobrara,Park, Sheridan, Sweetwater, Uinta andWeston. The county library systems areplanning book discussions, living historyperformances, children’s activities, dances,displays and more.They’re giving away even more freebooks for people to “Catch, Read andRelease.” Statewide, more than 4,000books will be released “into the wild” forpeople to read, share and discuss.The Big Read is about how great storiesconnect us. “Yes, this is about reading,”NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said, “butit’s also about getting people to leave theirhomes and offices, unplug themselves for14Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007a few hours, and enjoy the pleasures ofliterature with their neighbors.”Like Willa Cather, Burden came west toNebraska from Virginia as a child, a muchdifferent landscape. Go east to GrandIsland, Nebraska and head due south.Almost to the Kansas border is the tinytown of Red Cloud, about 1,000 people.It was Willa Cather’s childhood home andthe model for her fictional town of BlackHawk in My Ántonia.“When you drive to Red Cloud,” hesaid, “you go through that country, andit’s attractive, beautiful country – much asshe describes it. It’s rolling, great grassyprairie – heavy red grass, broken by grainfields. Along with the beauty came wind,summer heat, snowstorms, sickness,injury and isolation that Catherrecognized in her writing.”“Much of the writing aboutthe West is about this newexperience,” he said “Thewriters are telling us aboutbeing really overwhelmedby the land itself. It’s one ofthe things that shape life inthe West – the weather, theopen spaces, the intensity ofblizzards and so forth.”The land may beoverwhelming, but it’s thecharacters that make this booksuch an engaging read. “It’s alwaysÁntonia who is openly at theheart of it,” Roripaugh said.“She undergoes experiencesthat are terribly trying forher, and yet ultimatelywhat we find is acharacter who manages totriumph.”“Willa Cather was atalented writer in telling us a story,”he said. “The number and varietyof characters and differing ethnicbackgrounds brought to life in the bookare part of its strength. We want to seewhat happens to these people – wherethey’re headed in their lives and how it willall work out.”Roripaugh added, “If you read MyÁntonia, you want to read O Pioneers. Ifyou read O Pioneers, you want to go onfrom that to something like The Lost Lady.Her career in American literature becameone that showed the importance the Westcould have. Her success and popularityhelped opendoorsfor

other women writers in the 1920s andlater years.”The Wyoming Center for the Book isone of 117 organizations that receivedgrants to support Big Read programsbetween September and December 2007.Wyoming’s project is supported in partwith funding from the NEA, WyomingCommunity Foundation and Kellogg. TheNEA also provides reader’s and teacher’sguides.Wyoming’s Big Read partners -- thelibraries and the Wyoming School-University Partnership will bring The BigRead into communities across the state.“We see The Big Read as one exampleof the kind of activity vital to a thrivingdemocracy,” said Audrey Kleinsasser,director of the School-UniversityPartnership. “While the book itself isimportant, for us, the conversation,opportunity to make connections, trustbuildingthat ensue are, perhaps, moreimportant.”The Big Read was created to addressthe national decline in literary reading– particularly among the youngest agegroups – found in the NEA’s 2004landmark survey Reading at Risk: A Surveyof Literary Reading in America. Literaryreaders are more likely than non-literaryreaders to perform volunteer andcharity work, visit art museums, attendperforming arts events, and even attendsporting events.“By joining the Big Read,” Gioia said,“these cities and towns are showingthat reading is necessary to the cultural,civic, even economic fabric of theircommunities. They understand thebenefit of having people from differentgenerations and walks of life reading anddiscussing a great book.”People wanting to participate in theWyoming Big Read may check the website at www.wyomingbigread.org or withtheir local libraries for the latest on localevents.The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowmentfor the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the centerof American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read inpartnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Servicesand in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Wyoming’s Big Read isa project of the Wyoming Center for the Book, in partnershipwith Wyoming libraries and the Wyoming School-UniversityPartnership, and with support from the National Endowmentfor the Arts, Wyoming Community Foundation and the KelloggFoundation.THE BIG READ STATE KICKOFFWyoming Public Television broadcast: “Willa Cather: The Road is All.”Wednesday, September 12, 7 p.m.Watch this acclaimed PBS American Masters documentary of Cather’s lifeon a special broadcast by KCWC Wyoming Public Television.WYOMING BOOK FESTIVALSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15“Catch, Read and Release” book giveaway9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Big Read tent in the Wyoming libraries areaStop by while supplies last to pick up your free copy of “My Antonia” toread, discuss and share with others. Books available to the first 1,000people. (Wyoming residents only, please.)Keynote address: On Life, Landscape and Cather10:30 a.m., Wyoming libraries tentEnjoy a special keynote address on Willa Cather and My Antonia withRobert Roripaugh, Wyoming Poet Laureate 1995-2002.Willa Cather living history performance11:15 a.m., Wyoming libraries tentWatch Lynne Swanson bring Cather to life with a first-person living historyperformance. For more than 20 years, Swanson has portrayed a numberof women of the American West, including Cather, Isabella Bird, ElinorePruitt Stewart and others. Swanson will appear around the state at localparticipating Big Read communities in September and October.LOCAL EVENTSBetween September 16 and November 15, these Wyoming county libraries and theirbranches will have book giveaways, discussion groups, living history presentations,movie showings and more!Albany County Public LibraryCampbell County Public Library SystemConverse County LibraryFremont County Public Library SystemJohnson County LibraryLaramie County Library SystemLincoln County Library SystemNiobrara County LibraryPark County LibrarySheridan County Public Library SystemSweetwater County Library SystemUinta County LibraryWeston County LibraryFor programs in your community, visit www.wyomingbigread.org or www.neabigread/communities.php, or check with your local library.Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 15

Robert Roripaugh, past Wyoming poet laureateOn life, landscape and CatherLike Willa Cather, Robert Roripaugh draws inspiration for his writing from the westernlandscape.Roripaugh served as Wyoming’s poet laureate from 1995 to 2002. He taught at the Universityof Wyoming for 35 years with an emphasis on creative writing and Western American literature.He is giving the keynote speech on The Big Read at the Wyoming Book Festival at 10:30 a.m.on Saturday, Sept. 15 in the Big Read tent.“When I started teaching Western Literature, Willa Cather was just a natural to turn to,”Roripaugh said. “She was the figure that seemed in a literary way to most clearly suggest thehomestead experience, and she wrote about it so interestingly in My Ántonia.”Roripaugh has two published novels, A Fever for Living and Honor thy Father, and two books of poetry, Learn to Love the Hazeand The Ranch. His next book, The Legend of Billy Jenks and Other Wyoming Stories, is being published soon by High Plains Press.A Fever for Living takes place in post-World War II Japan, where Roripaugh met and married his wife, Yoshiko. All the othersdraw from Wyoming’s life and landscapes.“People are shaped by where they live,” he said. “In Western American literature, this is especially true.”Roripaugh’s own family took part in the pioneer experience, moving from the East to Keokuk, Iowa and then later toNebraska, just east of Red Cloud, the small town where Cather lived and the basis for the fictional town of Black Hawk in MyÁntonia.Wyoming and Willa Cather’s work are connected, he says. There is a shared history of homesteading, prairie life, theimmigrant experience and the coming of the railroad. The land, so overwhelming to those who came to it as Cather herselfdid, is a significant theme in the literature of the West.Roripaugh’s family bought a ranch near Lander in 1949. He earned his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Wyoming. His firstpublished works were short stories and the two novels. He taught poetry in literature and creative writing classes, and in the1970s began writing it more seriously.His roots as a writer, however, go much further back. “I probably became a writer in the way many writers do, and that’sby being readers,” he said. His mother “always encouraged me in reading, and we always had books around the house. I wasencouraged to go to libraries, and reading became a part of my life.”Roripaugh was featured in last year’s Equality State Book Festival, and is looking forward to the Wyoming Book Festival. “Itseemed a fine idea for bringing authors and people interested in books and reading and literature together,” he said of lastyear’s event. “I think it will work the same way this year. I have no doubt at all.”In addition to his keynote address, Roripaugh will sign books at 12:30 p.m. and do a poetry reading at the Wyoming Arts Council at 1:30 p.m.Willa Cather’s life and workWhen Willa Cather was nine years old, she moved with her family from lush, green Virginia to theprairies of south central Nebraska. Her new surroundings seemed remote and barren. To overcomeher loneliness, she rode her horse from farm to farm and made friends with her pioneer neighbors.Many of these men and women were European immigrants who had settled the plains, yet still heldon to Old World customs and attitudes. Cather’s exposure to these people and a love of the free, wild“shaggy grass country” provided her with the fodder for her best writing.Today, Willa Cather’s writing has a strong appeal to those who, like Cather, appreciate the pioneerspirit and cherish old traditions. However, she demands more than a simple reverence for the past. Sheasks her readers to strive for excellence, not material gain, and to be sensitive to the beauties of the land and to the people around us.Most of all, Cather expects each of us to make the best of what we have been given – the best of what we are.~Lynne Swanson16Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007

Author’s river writing journeystop Oprah’s getawaysWhen author Page Lambert began writing about the West and the wilderness, she found many answers shewas looking for in her life could be found in nature.“Nature continues to be a great teacher for me,” Lambert says.Whether she struggled with raising herchildren, with environmental issues, orquestions that arose as a woman, heranswers were just outside her door.Now Lambert helps other women findtheir answers too. Lambert facilitatescreative adventures, including the RiverWriting Journeys for Women whichprovide women with an opportunity tocome together and share their creativeenergy.“Something very magical alwayshappens on these trips—thecombination of women alone in thewilderness, writing and sharing, createssuch a unique atmosphere of trust andopenness,” Lambert says.“We hike. We swim. We write. Werun rapids, float the smooth water, talkabout the creative process, share ourjournaling, share our joy,” Lambert says.Lambert’s River Writing Journeys forWomen were featured in Oprah’s Omagazine as one of the top six greatall-girl getaways of the year. Similarstories appeared in The Denver Post, TheRocky Mountain News, Denver Magazine5280, the Fort Collins Coloradoan andseveral Southwest magazines. Plans fora Wyoming horseback writing retreatare underway for 2008.One great aspect of the writingadventures for Lambert is that sheworks with and helps her peers. She alsodoes this as a writing coach. AlthoughLambert says she doesn’t get to workwith as many writers as she wouldlike, she loves helping people haveconfidence in their stories.“I like to shine the light on theirwriting, chip away at the matrix, andhelp them find the gem that’s alreadythere,” she says.Lambert is a native Coloradoan. Shestudied writing in college and thenspent 18 years working in the corporateworld, in the judicial system, and as anentrepreneur. When she moved to asmall ranch in Black Hills of Wyomingin 1985 (where she and her husbandreared their son and daughter), shequickly became involved with the CrookCounty Library, becoming a memberof the Bear Lodge Writers where shewas encouraged to “get serious” aboutputting a book together.“I was surprised by how profoundand deep my emotions were regardingthe issues involving the land, and theWest.” She soon started writing aboutthe animals on her ranch, the wildlifeand stories about her children. “It was ablessing that these passions manifestedthemselves in my writing. When I wouldgo to meetings and read journal pieces,I would often say, ‘Oh, I just broughtanother silly animal story to readtonight.’”She quickly realized that her storiesabout what some might call “small”issues or events resonated with readerstrying to find symbolism and meaningin their own lives.Working to help other writers honetheir passion and find their place,whether that is one with the wilderness,is something Lambert says she enjoysabout her career.Lambert is one of more than 60authors attending the Wyoming BookFestival September 14-15 on the Capitolgrounds in Cheyenne. Her booksinclude In Search of Kinship and ShiftingStars. In addition, Lambert has hadher work published in more than 20anthologies including Open Range: Poetryof the Reimagined West and Home Land:Ranching and a West that Works. For moreinformation on Lambert, visit her website at www.pagelambert.com.Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, Nature &Outdoors TentBook signing: 10:30 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Moderator, At Home in Nature,Noon, Saturday, Plains HotelWorkshop: Nature Writing, 2:30 p.m.,Friday, Laramie County Library-SunflowerRoomWyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 17

Laramie writer tellsstory of Wyoming’sbarsProfessor by day, bar hopper by night?Not exactly.University of Wyoming assistant professorof English and author Julianne Couchrecently published her first full-length book,Jukeboxes & Jackalopes: A Wyoming BarJourney. Her book is a journey throughmore than 25 of Wyoming’s bars.“My husband and I would drive by theseplaces and think ‘wouldn’t it be fabulousif we just had a little more time to stopby and see what was going on.’ Finally, Ithought the only way I’m going to be ableto do this is to actually make a project outof it and so I did,” Couch says.Couch and her husband, fellow bartourist who does the photography for thebook, visited at least 30 bars throughoutWyoming, although not all are featured inher book.“I began to take pity on the poor readerthinking nobody’s going to want to readabout all these bars, so that’s how manyof them made the book,” she says.She visited the bars during the last three18Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007summers and would do her writing thatfall between her busy college schedule as aprofessor. Couch says there were surprisesbehind every bar door.“I think that one of the main things wediscovered is how unexpected the peoplein the bar could be compared to what aplace might look like on the outside,” shesays.For example, Couch says the barin Spotted Horse, located betweenBuffalo and Gillette, is obviously nota microbrewery, and the bars on thewindows make it look a bit rough.However, she says she had the mostinteresting conversation chatting with thefolks inside.“The main thing I remember is thevintage Barbie doll the bartenderjust bought. How do you explain thebartender who is talking about Barbiedolls and going antique shopping in theBlack Hills?” Couch says.Couch is attending the Wyoming BookFestival in Cheyenne this fall.“I’m looking highly forward to it. I’mwondering what all it will be like and whatI’ll be doing. It’s going to be fantasticto be in the company of all those otherwriters.”In addition, Couch has been checkingthe festival web site to see which ofher colleagues are attending. A lot ofthe authors at the festival have ties tothe University of Wyoming, either asprofessors or alumni.“For me, the book festival is a chance tocontribute to the conversation that peopleare having, living or dead, instate or out ofstate, about this Wyoming,” Couch says.Couch had a fantastic time creatingthe book and says she owes a lot ofthanks to the Wyoming Arts Council forassisting her with funding, the university’sCollege of Arts and Sciences for being sosupportive, and, of course, her husband.“It would be really hard to do thiswithout a partner so it was a fantasticcollaborative opportunity for us to be apart of,” she saysBut were any of the bars scary once shegot inside?“Not a single one.”Couch’s essays have appearedpublications including High Country News;Owen Wister Review; Heritage of the GreatPlains; The Gleaners: Eco-Essays on Re-cyling,Re-Use, and Living Lightly on the Land; HardGround: Writing the Rockies; and Ahead ofTheir Time: Wyoming Voices for the Wilderness.She also co-hosts the literary radioprogram “Speaking of Writing,” whichairs on Laramie’s community radio station.Speaking: 11:45 a.m., Saturday, Wyoming &the West/Road Trips TentBook signing: 1 p.m., SaturdayPanel: Social History Panel, 2 p.m., Saturday,Plains Hotel

Warden tells tales of rugged,colorful people of WestWyoming is truly like no other placeon earth — the wildlife, the history and,most importantly, the people.Author and Wyoming Chief GameWarden Jay Lawson knows this betterthan anyone. His first book, Men ToMatch Our Mountains, is a compilation ofstories about the most colorful outdoormen and women of early TwentiethCentury Wyoming, including trappers,cowboys, forest rangers, hunting guidesand early game wardens. Realizingthis unique generation was nearly lostto history, he spent years conductinginterviews and chronicling the lifehistories of these intriguing characters.He also collected more than 140 oldphotographs from all over Wyomingincluding some of the earliest huntingcamps.“Here you have a state that was largelyundeveloped at that time, very sparselypopulated, and made up of diversehabitats. It made Wyoming unique; itmade the people very unique,” he says.Many of the characters in his bookcame to settle in Wyoming because ofthe Homestead Act. We usually think ofhomesteaders creating ranches or farms,but these folks settled in the mountains,utilizing their 160 acres as base camps forhunting and trapping operations.Lawson, who is a featured author at theWyoming Book Festival, has always beendrawn to the characters of the West. At avery young age, he began listening to thetales of old cowboys and trappers wholived near him. “In the beginning, they’dtake me fishing and I would listen. Lateron, when they were much older andunable to take me fishing, I’d take themfishing,” Lawson says.Most of the individuals Lawson writesabout have since passed away. They toldhim their stories when they were elderly,and although they may have lacked thecharisma of their younger days, thetales still intrigued him. “I was just reallyfascinated. If you expressed an interestin their life history, they would reallyopen up to you.” In the case of thoseindividuals who had already passed,relatives, friends and other acquaintanceswere more than happy to share theirexperiences with Lawson as well.“It is important to preserve the historyof this time,” Lawson says, “and thatwas my primary goal for the book. Inaddition, I wanted to help fund wildlifeconservation in Wyoming, so I amdonating all proceeds from the bookto the Wildlife Heritage Foundation ofWyoming.”As a game warden, Lawson workedPhoto of Kenny Martin, Courtesy of Mike Martinmany areas of the state and he begantaking notes of the stories he heard.When he actually began thinking aboutwriting the book, he sought out peoplehe’d heard about from other gamewardens.“When I became the supervisor inLaramie, one of my game wardensrelated an incident that intrigued me.He was up near Laramie Peak during asnowstorm and checked a woman witha bull elk who was hunting in a skirt andcowboy hat. I made a mental note ofthat and thought, man, I’ve got to meetthis woman.”Later on, Lawson was able to interviewand obtain photos from the woman,Leone Olds, one of the few peoplefeatured in his book still living.“It’s the beauty of the state, thewildness of the state, and the ruggednessof these individuals. They’re just suchcolorful characters. They were justincredible.”Speaking: 11:15 a.m., Saturday, Nature &Outdoors TentBook signing: 12:30 p.m., SaturdayWyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 19

Love of literature shines through books, genesFamous author native to CheyenneHer voice rings with excitement and of ayouth most people wish they could hold onto.Maybe that’s why children’s author PatriciaMacLachlan is so good at sparking the interestof young readers with her books. She is bestknown as the author of Sarah, Plain and Tall.“When you’re writing a book, you neverknow how your readers will react, whetherthey’ll love it or drop it like a stone. You neverknow. You kind of write books for yourselfand hope somebody else likes them,” she says.MacLachlan, a featured author at theWyoming Book Festival, lived in theCowboy State until she was in the first grade.Her former home in Cheyenne is quitedifferent from her home in Williamsburg,Massachusetts.“I like the prairie, and I like the wide openspaces and the big sky, so I’ m always wishinghalf the trees here would fall down. I have asummer house by the water, when you lookout over the water it’s kind of like looking outover the prairie” says the author.The Wyoming author has released morethan 20 books. Her most recent are a novel,entitled Edward’s Eyes, about what happens ina family when one of the children dies, and apicture book called Fiona Loves the Night, whichMacLachlan created with her daughter, Emily.The duo has done a series of picture bookswith a few more to come in the collection, shesays.“It’s very funny because we revert back tomother and daughter in some funny ways.We’ll get a little cranky with each other andother times we get hysterical and laugh a lot.It’s really like a family,” MacLachlan says ofworking with her daughter.In addition, MacLachlan says Emily hasbecome a very good editor.“Sometimes she’ll say things to me like, ‘Areyou really committed to that sentence?’”She says she hopes she and her daughter willsome day write a novel together.Emily isn’t the only one of the MacLachlan’schildren to share her literary interests. Oneson, John, has written a book, too, while theother son, Jamison, lives in Boston and worksin publishing.Her children have always played a role in herbooks. Some characters were based on herchildren, something they said, or somethingthey did.“Sometimes they recognize somethingthey’ve said but realize I’ve painted over it asa painter would. I’ve changed it, so it’s notobvious to anyone but them.”One of the reasons her children may be sointerested in literature is because they were sosurrounded by it growing up. MacLachlan hada similar upbringing having two parents whowere teachers.“They’re all avid readers, and I think it’s howyou grow up and what you’re used to,” shesays.MacLachlan spends some of her timespeaking with other people’s children, too. Shesays when she visits schools, she makes surestudents know a book is never finished theminute she stops writing. She must rewriteover and over again.“It’s good for them to see how much wehave in common, because teachers make themdo things over, and my editors make me dothings over,” MacLachlan says.Most of the things MacLachlan writes aboutdevelops from experiences in her youth orpeople she knows. Sarah, Plain and Tall wasstrongly based on her mother’s family.“I often tell kids they’re living the life nowthat they will write about later.”MacLachlan has won numerous literaryawards including the Newbery Medal forSarah, Plain and Tall.“I think winning the Newbery Medial wasa very high point in my career, because it ischosen by librarians. But sometimes I think thehigh point in my career is writing a sentence inmy next book,” she jokes.She also won the Christopher Award, TheScott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction,the Golden Kite Award and many AmericanLibrary Association Notable Books. In 2003she was awarded the National HumanitiesMedal for her body of work. She received themedal at the White House in Washington,D.C. She was also an Emmy nominee for thescreenplay of Sarah, Plain and Tall, produced byGlenn Close and Hallmark Hall of Fame.20Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007

Wyoming author uses sense of humorwhen promoting Wyoming librariesIt’s unclear whether or not author CraigJohnson is a cheap date, but the good newsis he has a pretty cheap honorarium forlibraries—a six-pack of Rainier Beer, canspreferred. “A lot of libraries go ‘wow, justgive a six-pack, hmmm, maybe we shouldgive that guy a call,’” the author laughs.“I think you can judge a society by itslibraries, and with that in mind, Wyomingcomes out ahead. We’ve got a wonderfullibrary systemin the state,and anythingI can do topromote themand literacy isa donedeal.”The story of his honorarium beganwith the Meeteetse library that wantedto bring him in to do an event but wereunsure whether they’d have enough money.“I wrote and said that once you reach acertain level or literary notoriety; you can’treally negotiate your honorarium; mine isthe same as it’s always been: a six pack ofRainier Beer,” jokes Johnson.But jokes aside, Johnson is a seriouswriter with some serious attention. Hisbooks have received high praise. Before hiswriting success, Johnson spent a long timein what he calls his “bum years.” Johnsonsays he did everything from being acowboy to a police officer. “A lot of times,I look back and think thank goodness Ibecame a writer or else all of this wouldhave been for nothing. I would have justbeen a bum.”In addition to running the gamutof jobs, life for him was scatteredthrough much of the country. Heeventually found and built his ranchin Ucross, Wyoming—population25. And it’s this place and Wyomingas a whole that have had significantroles in his writing. “To ignore theplace is to do something at your own riskas a writer, because it informs everything.Location informs your characters—whothey are and where they’re from. To ignorethat would just be a criminal act, as far asI’m concerned,” Johnson says.He also decided to put an emphasis onthe seasons in his books. The Cold Dishstarts with fall, followed by Death WithoutCompany in winter and Kindness GoesUnpunished in spring. His next book, AnotherMan’s Moccasins, is a summer book.“I decided I would take into considerationone of the things that has the most impacton us out here in the West—the weatherand the seasons.”Setting his books in Wyoming, in theromantic beauty and epic quality of theWest, may have even been one of thereasons his books were published. “It’snice to be reminded of the beauty here.Whenever I walk out to feed the horses inthe morning and the sun is hitting the hillsjust right; the dynamic is gold and beautiful,it just reminds you. It reminds you that welive in a wonderful place—a special place.”Johnson says he shies away from tellingpeople what a Cinderella story his writingcareer has been. His book earned positivereviews in publications such as The NewYork Times, Washington Post and Denver Post.But, after all the national attention hisbooks receive, he’s most happy that hisstories resonate with readers in Wyoming.“There’s the biblical phrase that theprophet hath no honor in his own country.You worry about that type of thing, butthe responses the books receive nationally,internationally, and particularly here inWyoming are very important to me.”At the opening of Johnson’s web sitewww.craigallenjohnson.com it reads,“People wonder where I get my eccentriccharacters, but if they lived in Wyomingthey wouldn’t ask me that question.”Johnson’s Walt Longmire novels TheCold Dish, Death Without Company andKindness Goes Unpunished, received starredreviews in Kirkus and Booklist and withBooksense and Killer picks. The Cold Dishwas a DILYS award finalist and DeathWithout Company won the 2006 WyomingHistorical Society’s Best Fiction Award andwas a finalist for the Mountain & PlainsBook of the Year. Kindness Goes Unpunishedwas 38 on the ABA Hardback Best SellersList. His short story, Old Indian Trick, wonthe Hillerman Award, and the fourth inthe Walt Longmire series, Another Man’sMoccasins, will be published by Viking inMarch 2008.When asked if he still did his in-statehonorariums for a six-pack, Johnsonreplied. “Yep, but these days they usuallyoverpay me with an eighteen-pack.”Speaking: 12:45 p.m., Saturday, Mystery &Crime TentBook signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayPanel: Mystery Panel, 10 a.m., Saturday, PlainsHotelWorkshop: Cannibalizing Your Friends andFamily for Characters, 2:30 p.m., Friday, AtlasTheatreWyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 21

Journey of 19 th century woman brought to lifeThe journey of a real nineteenth centuryWestern woman comes to life at this year’sWyoming Book FestivalNan Weber, author of Mattie: A Women’sJourney West, will bring her characterMattie S. Culver to life in a living historypresentation. Weber will dress up asMattie to tell her story.Both acting and history are secondnature to Weber. It was Weber’s actingthat led her to writing in the first place.After finishing her bachelor’s degree,Weber noticed the lack of scripts aboutreal historical Western women. Therewere books about famous women suchas Calamity Jane, but the “real” westernwomen of the nineteenth century weremissing.“I was looking for the commonwoman,” she says.Because of this, Weber says she starteddoing her own research about thesewomen and wrote scripts based on herfindings.“I just started writing monologues fromthese things I found that were mostlyunpublished letters and diaries.” Fromscripts, Weber began giving presentationson some of her research, specifically onMattie. At one presentation a publishertold her, “Nan, put this research together,people are going to want to hear thisstory.” Working to tell Mattie’ story cameto Weber by accident almost.“I came across this gravestone inYellowstone and I asked people to tell meabout this woman, but no one really knewanything,” Weber says.Weber struggled to research Mattie,because there are very few records onwomen during that time. She startedresearching Mattie’ husband and thenshe researched the couple’s daughter. Itwas there she found a jumping off pointin land records. From then on, the storybegan to unravel.Because she was originally a performer,Weber has a different writing style frommany other authors.“I approach it as if I were playing thepart, what would I be doing and howwould I be doing this?” she says.The four years of research could bedaunting for Weber who came to severaldead ends.“Instead of being frustrated, the coolthing about writers who do their ownresearch is you just kind of twirl it aroundto see what you would have done. It’s kindof like solving a mystery.”Through her writing, Weber says shehopes people realize how important theirown lives are.“We all have a story to tell. People sayAmerican’s don’t have a culture, but themore you read other people’s writingor do an oral interview with someone,you see we have such a rich culture. TheAmerican identity is still emerging andevery single one of us is a part of it,” shesays.In addition to writing, Weber performs,still researches women, and travelswith her husband doing multimediapresentations.Her upcoming book, I Always Wanted tobe a Cowboy, is set to be out in the spring. Itis a story about a man named YellowstoneChip Samuell, a Yellowstone stage driver,entertainer, and wrangler who grew upin Illinois thinking he wasn’t a cowboy,when he had been from the beginning.The books’ publisher is Carl Schreier, ofHomestead Publishing, Moose, Wyoming.For more information on Nan Weber,visit her web site at www.nanweber.comSpeaking: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, History TentBook signing: Noon, SaturdayPanel: Women’s Spirituality, 10 a.m., Saturday,Laramie County Library-Willow.18 22Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007

Author sends message of life after warWhen a soldier returns from war, “Johnny isn’t Johnny” anymore, saysdistinguished Vietnam War veteran and author Lee Alley.“People think when someone returnsfrom war, life just goes on. Peoplemust understand someone whose lifeis touched by war is changed,” says theauthor who is attending the WyomingBook Festival.Alley’s book, Back from War: FindingHope and Understanding in Life afterCombat, is a collection of personalstories about war and accounts fromseveral other people affected by war.Originally there was no intention forAlley to publish a book. He found afterreturning from war it was therapeuticto write down his thoughts. These“ramblings” became the foundation ofa book, once Alley realized how deepthe problems were for war veterans.“I thought if I can sit here and baremy soul so can other people. This isn’ta book about war, this is a book abouthealing,” Alley says.Alley says people were reluctant tocontribute. But soon people caught onto the book’s real message.“The goal of this book is to developa public awareness. Generally speakingpeople have no concept of what wardoes to people. Once you step your footinto combat or once combat effects youas a mother or father you’re changedforever,” he says.Alley has been called one of the mosthighly decorated Vietnam War veteransin Wyoming. He’s received the Army’sDistinguished Service Cross, Silver Star,Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts anda nomination for the CongressionalMedal of Honor. But as a veteran fromthe Vietnam War, he felt compelled tohide his accomplishments.“I didn’t want people to knowbecause there was so much negativitysurrounding the war,” he says.“You’re a soldier one day and thennext you’re a civilian. The army did agood job at turning me into a soldier,into a warrior, but they never took thetime to help me decompress. I couldn’tfind the switch to turn myself off.”Once Alley returned from war, heimmediately became a University ofWyoming student. Any college campuswas hotbed of anti-war demonstrationat the time.“It was not a fun place to be. Ibasically hid that fact that I was aveteran,” he says.But his book allows people to see theyare not alone in their post-war struggles.“All of a sudden people say, ‘wow, Ican’t sleep at night and I don’t like to goto the Fourth of July parade because ofthe fireworks. I thought I was the onlyone feeling this way,’” Alley says.In addition, Alley has received a lot offeedback from women, which he sayshe didn’t expect. Because their husbandsnever shared their struggles, the bookallowed women to really understand.Alley’s not sure if time has healed allwounds. When Vietnam War veteranswere younger they sometimes workedtwo, three or even four jobs to keepthemselves busy because they couldn’tsleep at night. But as the veterans growolder, their bodies can’t work at 100miles per hour anymore. This forcesveterans to deal with issues they havelong suppressed.“They always say time is on your sidebecause it will heal you. But in someways time has become an enemy formany veterans because time on yourhands means sitting down and dealingwith the past,” Alley says.He wants soldiers who are nowreturning from war to realize they’re notalone and to try to reconnect with thepeople they served with. Alley says theseare the people who truly understand.“We served our country, and weserved our country with pride. Theveteran community is a very proudcommunity, but I want people tounderstand when you look at a veteranyou’re not looking at Johnny cominghome, you’re looking at someone whohas done and seen things that have trulychanged them forever.”Speaking: 9:45 a.m., Saturday, Home &Garden/Non-Fiction TentBook signing: 11 a.m., SaturdayWyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007

Writersurroundshimself inworld ofliterature,artMichael Shay is surrounded by literatureand art on a daily basis at his job at theWyoming Arts Council. He supervisesgrants and fellowships for writers,performers, and visual artists. He’s alsoeditor of the agency’s Artscapes newsletterand co-editor of its Wyomingarts blog.During his off hours, he writes fictionand essays, and posts daily on his ownblog.You’d think that he would get tired ofthe printed word.“People say to save your strength andfascination for the night, for creativework, but what I do at work doesn’t takeaway from my other writing. For me, it’sa different part of the brain,” he says.Shay is relatively new to the bloggingworld. He finds that the best are funnyand informative and are the work oftalented writers.“I think the best blogs are places wherepeople can exchange ideas and have funand not yell at each other too loudly.There’s a lot of yelling going on thesedays, but that’s just not my bag.”When he blogs, he says he tries to makehis writing spontaneous and topical atthe same time.“I’ve been writing for 30 years sosometimes it’s a little hard for me to bespontaneous,” Shay says.Even if the spontaneity has faded, Shaybelieves he’s lucky to have a job in thisfield.“I’m so fortunate to be able to work in24Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007the arts world, because it’s what I reallylove,” he says.Even after 30 years, Shay hasn’t beenstricken with writer’s block.“I’m not the kind of person whobelieves in writer’s block -- because Isay: “I can’t afford to have writer’s block.I have to take advantage of the time Ihave.”He is one of more than 60 writersattending this year’s Wyoming BookFestival.Although this is the first WyomingBook Festival, it’s not the first book festfor Shay.Shay served on the planning committeefor the Rocky Mountain Book Festival,a regional event in Denver that beganin 1993 but now is on hiatus. He helpedplan the Equality State Book Festival lastyear in Casper. That and the WyomingBook Festival will run every other year,both as biannual celebrations.“Our Casper festival was great, and Ithink the one in Cheyenne is going to beeven bigger and better than that,” Shaysaid.He likes the idea of the festival beingoutside, giving it more of a festivalfeeling, he says.“I know a lot of people have heardabout it. The word is spreading and thatmeans people will come.”Shay says he is familiar with severalattending writers but is looking forwardto the fresh faces.“I’ll get to meet a new crop of peopleand that will be great. Word travels aboutthe book festival. Writers really talk toeach other and want to be there,” Shaysaid.Shay helped plan a 2001 book festivalheld in Cheyenne. He said he learneda lot from the experience. “You need acore group of dedicated planners, peoplethat don’t mind putting in hundredsof hours in the interest of reading andbooks. Start the process at least a year inadvance. And, of course, you need somedependable funding sources.”Shay has published a book of shortfiction called The Weight of a Body. He’sat work on another story collection,Off the Grid, and a novel. His essaysand short stories have appeared inpublications such as Northern Lights, HighPlains Literary Review, Colorado Review,Owen Wister Review, Visions and HighPlains Register. Shay was also co-editorthe Wyoming Center for the Book 2003anthology, Deep West: A Literary Tourof Wyoming, featuring poetry and proseabout Wyoming.For more information on Michael Shay,visit www.hummingbirdminds.com.Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, Fiction TentBook signing: 10 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Nature Writing, Noon, Saturday,Plains Hotel

Festival bringsauthor homePoet and author Paisley Rekdal neverwanted to tackle the issue of race. Shenever vowed to put people in her biracialshoes. She never even knew it was an issueto her.“Most of my life I never thought aboutit at all,” she says.She says it must have been an issue toher, even if she didn’t know it. Whileattending graduate school in Michigan,she realized it was a big deal to her and toothers.“I didn’t show up to this party someonewas throwing in the graduate department.I found out I’d only been invited becauseI was biracial and that later people werefurious at me for not showing up. Theythought I didn’t show up because I wasn’tsupporting my race. I just thought it wasanother dumb party,” Rekdal says.It was a rude awakening, she says. “Racereally matters to everyone and in bothstupid ways like this party and importantways.”It is this issue and many others thatRekdal explores through both her prosand poetry.Rekdal’s newest work, The Invention ofthe Kaleidoscope: Poems, still touches on racebut focuses more on failures: failuresin relationships, science and artisticexpression.“Toward the end it’s about howthese failures can be successes if youunderstand that this sort of perfection isimpossible,” she says.The title poem tells of the man whoinvented the kaleidoscope as a way tobring his death and fragmented familytogether by the invention of this toy. Atthe same time, Rekdal says, the poem isabout a bad relationship she had with aman who was trying to make her more orless American.“The book is really about a lot ofthings,” Rekdal says.The poetry she’s writing now hasher “obsessed.” Sheis crafting poemsand a photo albumbased on the work ofEdward Curtis, whophotographed NativeAmerican Indians at theturn of the twentiethcentury.“I was struck byhow beautiful thephotographs were, andthe more I researched,the more I found outabout this adventurous,self-educated man andthe controversy surrounding these iconicphotographs.”Curtis believed the Native Americanswere a “vanishing race,” but Rekdal saysstudies show they were instead marryingand becoming a mixed race.“He wanted to try to preserve the ideaof the authentic Native American Indianand because of that he sort of stagedmany of his photographs—which manypeople may or may not know,” she says.Being biracial, Rekdal says this questionof authenticity really frustrates her.“This comes back to what does it meanto be authentic? How do you get countedin the end? Are you another branchingout of the authentic race or are you yourown race?” she says.Rekdal says: “Most of my poemscome from a combination of intensepersonal experience but also that personalexperience incorporates intellectualexperience too.”To her, poetry is a very privateexpression in more ways than one. For awriter, it’s a private expression that’s sentout to the public, but at the same time, thepoetry is read by the public in very privateways.“Each person takes a little somethingaway from the poem. Each personexperiences it in a different way andgets to claim someone else’s very privatelanguage as their own feelings too,” shesays.“Everyone says no one’s reading poetry.I’m reading it.”Rekdal is an associate professor at theUniversity of Utah. Her works includea book called The Night My Mother MetBruce Lee and three collections of poems:A Crash of Rhinos, Six Girls without Pants,and The Invention of the Kaleidoscope: Poems.She has received a Village Voice Writerson the Verge Award, an NEA Fellowship,the University of Georgia Press’Contemporary Poetry Series Award, aFulbright Fellowship, several PushcartPrize nominations, and the LaurenceGoldstein Poetry Prize from MichiganQuarterly Review. Her poems and essayshave appeared in or are forthcomingfrom The New York Times Magazine, Nerve,Ploughshares, Poetry, Michigan Quarterly Review,Denver Quarterly, Black Warrior Review, NewEngland Review, Virginia Quarterly Review,Prairie Schooner, Tin House, Quarterly West,and on National Public Radio amongothers.Speaking: 12:45 p.m., Saturday, Poetry TentBook signing: 10:30 p.m., SaturdayPanel: Poetry Panel, 2:15 p.m., Saturday,Poetry TentWyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 25

Author encouragesother writersHe says he likes to write longhand onlined notebook paper when he writeshis fiction. He likes to sit in his reclinersurrounded by his notes.Author John Nesbitt calls this hiswriting process. But this process isreserved for fiction. When he writes fortextbook projects, he says he just sits at hiscomputer and goes. He does revisions asthey come.“It’s kind of like having two differentkinds of relationships, one a little morerational and orderly, and the other moretumultuous,” he says.No matter what he’s writing for, hisfavorite aspect of writing is how it enablesa person to express elusive ideas andemotions in both direct and indirect ways.“Writing is not an activity for theprivileged, and it is not a competitivesport; everyone has a chance to do itwell.”Nesbitt’s full-time job is teaching.According to his web site, he has beenteaching writing, composition andliterature at Eastern Wyoming College inTorrington since 1981. He also teachesSpanish.“Teaching to a general audience hashelped me write for a general audience,as it has helped me understand what theaverage person does or does not alreadyknow,” he says.“I hope my students learn to valuelearning for its own sake, to read andlearn all they can, and then to find theopportunities for application as they comeup.”It’s probably this attitude of Nesbitt’sthat has made him an inspiration toothers. Nesbitt has received two awardsfrom the Wyoming Writers for service tothe organization and encouragement ofother writers.“I go about encouraging otherwriters by offering words of positiveencouragement, by offering advice when26Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007asked on how to handle asituation with perspectivepublishers, by reading andcommenting on otherwriters’ work, and byaccepting and publishingother people’s work,”Nesbitt says.There were severalpeople who influencedNesbitt just as heencourages others. Sincethe eighth grade Nesbittknew he wanted to bea writer when a teacherencouraged students towrite poetry and producecreative book reports.Then when he was incollege, he began studying literature, partlyso he could learn how to write his ownmaterial some day.Now Nesbitt writes a lot about the West.He says the West is very important in hiswriting because he’s writing about howpeople live in their physical environments.“I have lived in the country most ofmy life, and I have done many differentkinds of outdoor work, so the experienceI draw upon is Western by definition,” hesays.Something Nesbitt says motivates himin his writing is the fear that he will notfinish a project, and that result wouldmake him unhappy with himself.“Another thing is the feeling that if Idon’t work with an idea or feeling thatseems to be uppermost on my list ofdevoirs, I won’t clear it out and be ableto go on to work on something else,”Nesbitt says.Currently he’s working fiction shortstories for the Amazon Shorts programwhich consists of short pieces availablefor download in electronic format. Healso has a tradition western novel goingthrough the publishing process now.He is also a member of the WyomingCenter for the Book, so he’ll be workingat the Wyoming Book Festival in moreways than one. He will be moderating twosessions as well as presenting his work.“I hope the Wyoming Book Festival isa great source of inspiration for many ofthe people who attend it.”Nesbitt’s literary articles, book reviews,fiction, nonfiction, and poetry haveappeared in numerous magazines andanthologies. He has written six shortstory collections, two contemporarywestern novels, and more than a dozentraditional western novels. Nesbitt haswon many prizes and awards for his work,including a Wyoming Arts Council literaryfellowship for his fiction writing, and twoawards from the Wyoming State HistoricalSociety (also for fiction). His most recentpublications are Raven Springs, a westernnovel, and “Blue Horse Mesa,” a shortstory included in the anthology entitledLost Trails.Speaking: 9 a.m., Saturday, Wyoming & theWest/Road Trip TentBook signing: 10 a.m., SaturdayPanel: Genre Fiction, 2 p.m., Saturday, PlainsHotel

Sandlin says hippie erawill return for boomersIn the next 10 to 15 years, babyboomers may experience a little morethan a blast from the past.The novel, Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty,explores the concept of what it will belike for the baby boomer generationonce they get to the age of assistedliving. The book’s author, Tim Sandlin,says the generation will turn back theclock and start behaving as they didduring the hippie era.“They will forget the last 50 years ofresponsibility and 401(K)s and resort tobeing hippies. The book is a bunch of80-year-olds doing what they did back inthe late 60s, early 70s,” Sandlin says.Just inside the book, Sandlin writes,“The only thing I know for certain isthat this book will be true, someday.Librarians of America will move it fromfiction to non-fiction.”Sandlin’s book came out in January. Heis looking for his next novel, Rowdy inParis, to be published next year.Most of Sandlin’s books have acomedic and sometimes quirky outlookon life. He tries to take a positive spin onlife.“When tragedy happens you canlook at the funny side of it or you canget depressed and miserable. Gettingdepressed and miserable is the worstthing you can do.”From thebeginning, Sandlinknew he wantedto be a writer,and he’s donewhatever he canto ensure thatfuture for himself.“I had a poempublished inHighlights whenI was nine andmy secondpublication whenI was 37.”Sandlin sayshe wrote nearlyeveryday inbetween. Hewrote fournovels before hisfifth was finallypublished.“It’s all I everwanted to do orbe,” he says.Although itwas a long dryspell, Sandlin sayshe never oncethought aboutswitching paths.“If I got a job that started lookinglike it was going to turn into a career,I would quit. I wanted to be desperate,because I was a writer. I was afraid if Igot comfortable I would stop writing,”he says.At one time Sandlin lived in a teepee.He worked during the summer and livedin a teepee, saving as much money as hecould. In the winter, he says he woulduse all his money to live in Jackson Holeand write. He still lives in Jackson today.Sandlin is looking forward to theWyoming Book Festival this fall. Hesays he’s excited to see the writers ofWyoming, who are spread out throughthe state, come together in one place.“In the first 20 years or so in this state,I never met any writers. I didn’t evenknow any readers. It’s very isolating,and I think the festival and things likeWyoming Writers bring the writingcommunity together. It’s a really greatthing,” he says.“I rarely get to talk to people who careabout the things I care about. And it’sfestivals like this where that can happenand I really look forward to it.”Sandlin is both a novelist andscreenwriter. His novels include Sex andSunsets, Western Swing, Honey Don’t, theGroVont Trilogy, Jimi Hendrix TurnsEighty and the forthcoming Rowdy in Paris.His movie credits include the Showtimeoriginal “Floating Away,” based on SorrowFloats, and “Skipped Parts,” a TriMarkfilm. He is also a contributor to the NewYork Times Book Review and has judgedseveral writing competitions, includingthe Western States Book Awards. Heis director of the Jackson Hole WritersConference as well.Speaking: 11:45 a.m., Saturday, Fiction TentBook signing: 12:30 p.m., SaturdayPanel: Social History Panel, 2 p.m., Saturday,Plains HotelWyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 27

Wyoming daughter pays tributeto family, land, heritageShe is the daughter of the land we callWyoming.“It’s from where I come; I’m unableto separate myself from it. I don’t everwant to be separate from it—it’s whatgives me roots and wings to fly,” saysCowboy poet Echo Roy Klaproth.She’s a fourth-generation Wyomingrancher who writes to pay poetry to herunique family history. She describes herfamily as guardians of the Wyoming’sland since before its statehood.“It’s a story our children need toknow. It’s also a story that othersmust hear because our lifestyle is onthe endangered list,” she says. OnceKlaproth reached her 30s she began totalk seriously about becoming a writer.Now she writes prose and poetry,specifically cowboy poetry.“Cowboy poetry is simply a rancher’sattempt to save the stories.” She sayscowboy poetry spurred a revival ofpoetry in this country.“I get lost when I’m writing and soam relieved from the day to day, anytensions I might be carrying. It servesas a healer, forgiver, answer, discussiongroup, counselor and teacher,” she says.Not only is Klaproth a writer, but sheis also a teacher. She teaches seventhgraders through seniors in high schooland didn’t go back to school to becomean English teacher until she was 45.At the end of each year Klaprothcreates an anthology in her students’work and in essence publishes thepieces in the Shoshoni High SchoolWriter’s Hall of Fame.“We use writing as a tool to get ourthoughts and ideas on paper,” she says.“Everyone has a voice and loves, needsand deserves to have that voice heard.”She says teaching has really inspiredher writing and hopes that her writingand willingness to share it with herstudents will inspire them.Klaproth says she didn’t always know28Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007she wanted to be a writer. Instead, itwas God’s plan with a little help fromher first grade teacher.Of her favorites is a single poementitled “In Her Mind”. “I tell others,my students in particular, that this onepiece of writing has taken me to theSmithsonian and back and forth acrossthe county.”It was written on a napkin at hermother’s home in about 15 minutes.Her mother was in poor health,mentally and physical, frustratedthat morning because she couldn’tremember something important shewanted to tell Klaproth—a commonoccurrence at that time, she says.“She always thought it was aboutsomeone else, and in reality, it was andis. It’s about a lot of women. Perhapsthat’s why it’s been accepted as a goodstory.”Her latest project, Words TurnSilhouette, is a book of prose and poetryis dedicated to women of all ages.Another book of prose and poetrycalled, Echos of a Fourth Generation,chronicles modern ranching andfarming in Wyoming.Quoting a Cheyenne Frontier DaysRodeo program she says: “The frontierline is advancing settlement alreadyhas disappeared like misty shadowsvanishing before the sun’s rays. Let’s allbe merry…and celebrate old frontierdays…for when we die as Bill Nye said,‘We’ll be a very long time dead.’”Klaproth’s most recentaccomplishments include editingan anthology of “fine lines” fromcontemporary cowboy poems andsongs titled Scattered, Lasting Remnantsand producing A Nameless Grace, a CDdevoted to ranch women, past andpresent.Speaking: 11:15 a.m., Entertainment Stage.Book signing: 1:30 p.m., SaturdayCowboy poetryon the festivalentertainmentstageFor a great time and somegreat rhyme, watch a cowboypoetry performance on thefestival entertainment stagefrom 11:15-12:30.Sometimes funny, sometimessentimental and alwaysfun, cowboy poetry drawson traditional topics such asranch and farm life, the land,animals and rural characters.You might even hear adiatribe or two on prairiedogs or wolves. It’s written intraditional form – with rhymeand meter – and is meantto be performed rather thansimply read.Cowboy poetry is entertaining,and it’s written by peoplewho have lived the life theywrite about. For this specialperformance, the WyomingBook Festival welcomes cowboypoets Dick and Jane Morton,Echo Roy Klaproth and TerryHenderson.The entertainment stagewill be the site of otherperformances, such as danceand music, throughoutSaturday of the festival. Stopby the stage any time for somegreat entertainment and to seethe full list of performances.

Help support the Wyoming Book FestivalThe Wyoming Book Festival encourages reading and celebrates the state’s strong, diverse writing community. It featuresauthors who write everything from wilderness guides to literary poetry to cookbooks. The festival will bring togetherthousands of people to meet the authors whose lives and work connect them to Wyoming. It’s a family-friendly event withnumerous fun activities that promote books and encourage reading.The festival is a project of the Wyoming Center for the Book, a registered 501(c)3 organization that promotes books, bookculture and Wyoming’s literary heritage.Wyoming Book Festival events are free to the public. To keep it that way, the Wyoming Center for the Book relies on thegenerous support of its sponsors and the work of numerous volunteers.We need your help. You can help make this first festival a great one and also ensure the future of the Wyoming Book Festivaland the Wyoming Center for the Book.Please consider making a donation today to the Wyoming Center for the Book in support of the Wyoming Book Festival.Checks may be made out to the Wyoming Center for the Book, or use our online donation form on our web site at www.wyomingbookfestival.org.YES! I want to support the Wyoming Book Festival and the Wyoming Center for the Book. Enclosed is my donation of:$______ $50 $______ $100 $______ $250 $______ $500 $______ $1000 $______ other Please use my donation specifically for the Wyoming Book Festival Please use my donation however the Wyoming Center for the Book may needName: ________________________________________________________________________________________Company: _____________________________________________________________________________________Mailing address: _________________________________________________________________________________City, State, Zip: _________________________________________________________________________________Email address: __________________________________________________________________________________Phone:Please check all that apply: I would like to receive a FREE subscription to the Wyoming Library Roundup magazine. I would like to receive email updates about the Wyoming Book Festival. I am interested in volunteering for the festival.Please make checks out to the Wyoming Center for the Book, or make a credit card donation using our online form at www.wyomingbookfestival.org.The Wyoming Center for the Book, Inc. is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Your donation may be tax deductible, as allowed by law.Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007 29

Wyoming Book Festival VenuesThe new Laramie CountyLibraryAs you drive down Pioneer Avenue,right when you hit 23rd Street, you can’thelp but glance to your right and notice it:a wonderful new library building.It opens its doors on Saturday, Sept.8. It’s the site for several WyomingBook Festival events including writingworkshops, children’s programs and theawards ceremony for Wyoming YoungAuthors and Letters About Literaturewinners.The new Laramie County Librarybuilding is filled with amazements forpeople of all ages. Located at 2200Pioneer Avenue, the new three-storyfacility will offer more than 100,000square feet – triple the size of the currentlibrary. The library has a coffee shop,more meeting rooms, a number of quietstudy rooms, expanded book and audiovisualcollections, an improved genealogyarea, more public computers, extendedwireless capabilities, a quiet reading room,and much more.One of the many highlights is theinteractive literacy area on the secondfloor in the children’s area. Because ofLaramie County Library’s strong nationalreputation, the Burgeon Group – acompany who normally creates interactivechildren’s museum pieces – jumped onboard to create something for Cheyenne.“To be honest, this has to be seen to bebelieved,” County Librarian Lucie Osbornsaid. “This is just one of the many piecesthat will make this more than a library,30Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007but truly adestinationforCheyenne,for thecounty, forthe region.”The grandopeningceremony willbe Saturday,Sept. 8 at 9a.m., withthe doorsopeningat 10 a.m.For moreinformationabout the library, visit www.LCLSonline.org.Wyoming Arts CouncilGalleryWhile you’re enjoying poetry readingson the lawn, take a few minutes to visitthe Wyoming Arts Council Gallery.During the festival, the gallery will featureartwork by high school students from theWyoming High School Art Symposiumin April. This vibrant exhibit, with itsvariety of media and original content, isan opportunity to marvel at the talent ofWyoming’s students. The exhibit includes43 pieces chosen from a pool of over4,000 by outside jurors.Atlas TheatreFriday afternoon writing workshopscan be found in the lobby of Cheyenne’shistoric Atlas Theatre on LincolnwayAve. Built in 1887, the building beganits existence as a confectionary, or candystore. It has been a vaudeville stage, amovie theatre, and even a discothequecalled “The Pink Pony.” It’s home to theOld Fashioned Melodrama each yearduring Cheyenne Frontier Days, and it’sa venue for performances put on by theCheyenne Little Theatre Players, a groupthat for 78 years has brought high quality,community-based theatrical entertainmentto the area. To learn more aboutupcoming performances at the AtlasTheatre, visit www.cheyennelittletheatre.org.Plains HotelEnjoy the lively panel discussions inthe festival’s “Wyoming Talks – AboutBooks” humanities programs in theballroom at the historic Plains Hotel.Renovated in 2002, the Plains opened onMarch 9, 1911 as Cheyenne’s premierfull service hotel with a two-story lobbymezzanine with stained glass skylight,and finely appointed guest rooms. Visitwww.theplainshotel.com for more on thisdistinctive historic building.

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Wyoming State Quarterunveiling on September 14As the Wyoming Book Festival kicks off, a second celebrationis also taking place in Cheyenne to announce the minting anddistribution of the official Wyoming State Quarter.The quarter features the Cowboy State’s trademarked“Bucking Horse & Rider” image. Wyomingis the 44th state to celebrate the mintingof an official state quarter. The date atwhich each state came into the uniondetermined its order on the scheduleof state quarter releases.An official unveiling andeducational program aboutthe quarter on the morning ofSeptember 14, 2007 will beginat the Cheyenne Civic Center at10 a.m. The event will includepresentations by Gov. DaveFreudenthal and U.S. Mint DirectorEdmund C. Moy, among otherdignitaries and special guests.Following the event at the Civic Center,another, shorter ceremony will take placeon the Capitol steps that morning involvinghundreds of school children who will be attending theWyoming Book Festival.Oregon Trail Bank, headquartered in Guernsey, Wyo., hasbeen designated as the official bank of record for the new statecoin. The bank will be on hand at the ceremony to offer rollsof the new state quarter for purchase by those in attendance.Nellie Tayloe Ross and the U.S. MintWyoming’s Nellie Tayloe Ross was not only the first womanin the United States to be elected as a governor, she wasalso the first woman to head the U.S. Mint. Shewas appointed by Franklin Delano Rooseveltin 1933 and served until 1952. As theU.S. Mint rolls out the Wyoming StateQuarter, the Wyoming Book Festivalcelebrates this remarkable woman’sachievements.Teva Scheer, author of thebiography, Governor Lady: The Lifeand Times of Nellie Tayloe Ross,is one of the festival’s featuredauthors. She will speak on Saturdayfrom 9:45-10:15 a.m. in the Historytent and will sign books at 11:30 a.m.in the book signing area. She will alsodo a talk on “The Art of Biography”at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Laramie CountyLibrary.A Wyoming Public Television documentaryon Governor Ross will be shown at noon on Saturday in theLaramie County Library Willow Room. Following will be adiscussion with William Bradford Ross III, grandson ofNellie Tayloe Ross.http://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, 516 S. Greeley Hwy., Cheyenne, WY 82002.WyomingLibraryRoundupWyoming State Library516 S. Greeley Hwy.Cheyenne, WY 82002PresortedStandardU.S. PostagePAIDCheyenne, WYPermit. No. 7Wyoming Library Roundup • Summer 2007