Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/tag/montana/)
I was planning to ride off into the sunset today, but if I may appropriate an observation by Benjamin Franklin, it looks as though I might be heading in the direction of the rising sun. In the week since I announced that Last Best News would cease publication today, I have heard so many expressions of interest in reviving it in some shape or form, with or without my continued involvement, that it appears likely that this independent online newspaper will live on. (more…) Continue Reading →
I first visited Montana, from my home in Scotland, in 1993, and it’s fair to say that I fell in love with the place. So much so that, over the next 21 years, I would return another five times. At one stage, I seriously considered crossing the Atlantic and living there permanently. My career presented no problems. I was a creator and writer of newspaper comic strips and, theoretically, could work from anywhere in the world. (more…) Continue Reading →
Aging is not a pretty thing. At 92, my mother isn’t what she used to be. Once the executive secretary for a major life insurance company’s investment division, she now has great difficulty writing checks, balancing her check book or following a recipe. (more…) Continue Reading →
You know when you start a project and you think it will be simple and straight-forward but then you dig into it a little and it turns out it is going to be way more complicated than you thought and if you had known that in the beginning you probably wouldn’t have taken it on in the first place? That’s what happened to me last year when I proposed a “Top 10 Montana photographers to follow on Instagram” story to Last Best News. (more…) Continue Reading →
Fifty-Six Counties: A Montana Journey, by Russell Rowland, Bangtail Press, 2016. 416 pages, $22.95. Russell Rowland’s new work of nonfiction is an altogether beguiling book, but also a strange one that is impossible to pigeonhole. (more…) Continue Reading →
The artist stepped back to study the imprint of her hands on the grainy sandstone surface above her head. She was satisfied and added nothing else. The red berry dye reflected her slender hands well. As she had lifted her fingers, she trailed them slightly upward, elongating each finger—reflecting the radiation outward of her personal power. She thought the simplicity elegant. Continue Reading →
Generally speaking, the proprietors of Last Best News do not like to give businesses free advertising. There are exceptions to every rule, however. The exception here is that this particular business, or at least its PR company, came up with something so intrinsically interesting that we couldn’t resist. Here you go:
Via SelfStorage.com Montana Continue Reading →
I was born in Scotland and have lived in this fine country all my life. It should not surprise you to learn that I have a Scottish accent and that I occasionally use words or phrases that don’t register with Americans—something that has led to some amusing confusion on my trips to Montana. (more…) Continue Reading →
Dear Montana,
You stole my heart. You own my soul. Can you help me understand why I left your embrace, crossing over your borders to places far from the rhythm of your waters and the beckoning from your tallest peaks? To live apart from you for all these years? Like many before me, I moved away but never really left. Continue Reading →
You’ve probably all seen the latest list by now—”The 50 States of America if They Were Actually People in a Bar.” I know it’s been racing around the Internet. Based on my not particularly astute knowledge of this country, is seems fairly accurate. Two of my favorites were right next to each on the list:
“Texas is singing karaoke about how great Texas is.” “Utah is the designated driver, sipping on water and making sure nobody gets too crazy.” Continue Reading →
