Ed Kemmick's new collection of stories and essays is titled, The Big Sky, By and By: True Tales, Real People and Strange Times in the Heart of Montana. During this program Kemmick tells about collecting these stories, including a week-long trip from Yaak (in the northwest corner of the state) to Alzada (in the southeast corner).

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Here, for the first time, is the collected work of one of Montana's leading journalists, Ed Kemmick. In timeless pieces spanning Kemmick's award-winning career, he tells a contemporary story of Montana through the eyes of everyday, extraordinary people who define the rugged individuality and big-hdearted kindness of the Big Sky State. Among the tales are those of Dobro Dick, the traveling troubadour from Livingston; Maryona Johnson, who ran a brothel in Miles City; Shirley Smith, the cowboy curator from Fromberg who meticulously maintains the state's rodeo traditions; and Evel Knievel, who even in death gave his hometown of Butte another thrill (and a hell of an after party).

Kemmick, the City Lights columnist at The Billings Gazette, brings humor and deep empathy to his subjects, making them every bit as vivid for readers as they were when Kemmick sat down to talk with them.

Visit Ed Kemmick's Web site.

Read a review of The Big Sky, By and By in The Billings Gazette.

You'll find The Big Sky, By and By at Fact & Fiction in Missoula, or at your local independent bookseller.

The Write Question: a program that explores the world of writing and publishing in the western United States.

The music in this program was written and performed by John Floridis.

The Write Question is produced by Chérie Newman.

Read an interview with TWQ producer Chérie Newman on the Humanities Montana Web site.

Executive producer, Michael Marsolek.

Special thanks to Lisa Simon, David Moore, Barbara Theroux, and Kim Anderson.

This program is supported in part by Humanities Montana, enriching intellectual, cultural, and civic life for all Montanans. And by the Montana Cultural Trust.

Send comments to Chérie Newman.

Guests on the The Write Question are writers, publishers, and illustrators living, or working for an extended period of time, in the western United States. The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.