Acclaimed Montana Author Ivan Doig Died Today

Photo Courtesy of Icicle.com

One of my favorite authors of all time, Ivan Doig died today.  I'm pretty bummed about it.  Doig was born in Montana and wrote about it in ways no one else could.

My favorite of his books were "The Whistling Season," "Work Song," and "Sweet Thunder."  These historical fiction novels are a trilogy about a guy named Morrie Morris who moved to Montana at the turn of the century after a shady past back east,  He soon finds himself a teacher in a one room school out in the northern plains and eventually makes it to Butte in its heyday and becomes involved with the miners union and then, the historic Butte Library.  I fell in love with Butte through these books years before I ever even thought Butte would be such a huge part of my life.  Every day I spend here on the Hill in the old mine yards, in the shadows of the headframes, and in the buildings uptown, I think of the Doig novels and his amazing way of bringing you right back in time.  

I fell in love with Doig's characters and his books and I guarantee you will too if you haven't already. This is a sad day for Montana and the people who love her to lose such a hero of the story.