MONTANA STATE OF MIND

I enjoyed Christy Porter’s article on Montana writing featured in the March 19 View issue under the cute headline “Bright Lights, No City.”

There are a couple of points I would like to bring out, though.

Montana has so many good writers, past, present and future, that it would be nearly impossible to list them all. Porter did a good job of listing the ones from the two most notable writing environs, Missoula and Paradise Valley.

What was not reflected in the article is that there is a type of writing underground in Montana that is part of neither of those two camps. It is not an organized underground, it simply is not part of the state’s educational system, a member of the social elite, or part of a literary brat pack.

For example: Thomas Savage. Now in his 80s, Savage was born and reared in Montana and many of his books are about the state. His 1968 classic, “The Power of the Dog,” was called by the New York Times “the best book of the year.” And his 1988 novel, “The Corner of Rife and Pacific,” was named one of the 12 best pieces of fiction for 1988 by Publisher’s Weekly and has been nominated for a PEN/Faulkner award.

Poet Wally McRae is another overlooked native of Montana. One of the few in the “cowboy poetry” camp who is taken seriously, McRae is a favorite all over the country. But he is not part of the Missoula or Paradise Valley crowd.

Even from the Western side, a list should also include poet Paul Zarzyski, and newcomer Rick Bass.

One should also understand that much of the writing done by the Missoula and Paradise Valley crowd is not very popular in some parts of Montana. Perhaps, there are two “Montanas.” There is the trendy Western half, influenced by Kitteredge, and others; then there is the traditional Eastern half, where C. M. Russell and Will James still come first.

If you view the state as being bisected, James Welch appeals to both sides, as does Ivan Doig to a lesser degree. And Ralph Beer is a kind of crossbred, a native who sympathizes with the literary newcomers.

The purpose of the Times article was to focus on the best-selling “The Last Best Place,” and that is fine. I would just like to add that “the last best place” includes the entire state, from the Idaho border to the North Dakota border, and not merely the writers who write in the shade of the mountains, no matter how good or talented they are. Just the same, as a Montana writer, I appreciate the interest in my state and my fellow writers and I thank you all for the article.

JOHN MOORE

MILES CITY, MONT.