Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/author/edkemmick/page/129/)
Except for a stint in the service, Hank Armstrong has lived most of his 86 years in the house his grandparents built in 1910, seven miles east of Geraldine, Montana. He is a local historian, seemingly familiar with every square inch of land for miles around his native hearth and the stories of everyone who has lived there over the decades. Continue Reading →
For a couple of years, Adrian Jawort had been thinking about what he could do to promote contemporary Native American fiction writers. He is a Northern Cheyenne who grew up in Lockwood and Billings, a successful freelance journalist who has been interested in writing fiction since he was a young boy. He knew there was hardly any market for native writers. (more…) Continue Reading →
In 2012, having served on the Mayor’s Committee on Homelessness for five years, John Hines decided it was to time to resign. He represented the homeless community on the committee and had established a reputation as a thoughtful, articulate advocate for people whose opinions usually go unheard. (more…) Continue Reading →
When I was very young, I was not happy to be an Ed. I didn’t know any other Eds, which was probably the most important consideration. No young boy wants to stand out, especially at my Catholic school, where the highest weeds were likeliest to be lopped off. (more…) Continue Reading →
Last Stand: Ted Turner’s Quest to Save a Troubled Planet, by Todd Wilkinson, 2013. Lyons Press, 371 pages, $26.95
There are a lot of big names in this book besides Turner’s. Todd Wilkinson has revealing conversations with Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Gore, Kofi Annan and Jane Fonda, among others. (more…) Continue Reading →
On a Saturday morning in late January, my brother, a friend and I headed for Castle Butte north of Pompeys Pillar to look for petroglyphs. Our timing couldn’t have been better. We’d had quite a bit of snow and bone-chilling temperatures earlier in the winter, and it has been cold and snowy almost every day since our outing. But there we were on the high plains of Montana in the dead of winter and it was a gloriously fine day. (more…) Continue Reading →
It took 17 years, but I finally got a story in the Billings Outpost. I was working at the Gazette something like 20 years ago when David Crisp joined the staff as an assistant region editor, the same job I had. We worked together for a few years — and drank beer, played darts, shot pool, went canoeing and listened to Jimmie Rodgers records together — until David went over to being a reporter, an excellent reporter. And then he left the paper to start his own weekly, the Outpost. (more…) Continue Reading →
Growing up in Roundup, Hannah Appell was involved in theater even before she began school. Though she never did get down to Billings to take part in any productions, she was frequently in the audience at the Alberta Bair Theater, where she saw many plays and “tons of operas” over the years. (more…) Continue Reading →
The powers that be at the Lewistown News-Argus, fed up with “the nastiness that has pervaded so many of our online discussions,” are making some changes to their policies regarding online comments. They are requiring commenters to use a first and last name and to post comments under only one name. They also promise to more carefully review comments before they are posted. (more…) Continue Reading →
Here’s a good story from Tom Lutey about Max Baucus’ last shot of whiskey at the Two Dot Bar. I have my own rather minor story about the Two Dot Bar. Many years ago, when my youngest daughter was barely 3, she and I drove from Billings to Boulder to visit a friend of mine. We stopped in Two Dot because — well, how can you not stop in Two Dot when you’re driving down Highway 12? (more…) Continue Reading →
