Wanderers in Wonder

Books…we read, a great many books. Such is life when one lives on the road without the staples of American life, TV and Radio. When we cross paths with civilization to restock the pantry and fridge, we make it a point to seek out thrift stores. The books we have read get donated and we restock our library with used books. Unfortunately, rarely do we come across quality literature. There are enjoyable reads James Patterson, Baldacci, Grisham, Brown, etc but not history and quality literature.

So we Kindle, most recently from authors such as Tim Wendell, Timothy Egan, Roland Merullo, Domingo Martinez, Celeste Ng. When we absolutely have to have the comfort of a book in hand (David Gessner, Howard Mansfield, Sy Montgomery, Amy Irvine) we purchase, although we are running short of space.

We stopped in a thrift store in Coeur D’Alene. We donated our stack for a good cause, animal rescue. We then commenced to resupply. A book cover just jumped out at me. Dancing at the Rascal Fair, by Ivan Doig  (Doy – Ga). I had never heard of the author. It turned out to be a great read. Will save this one to share with my Durango reading and hiking friend Tom.

Next stop in civilization was Missoula a couple of weeks later. I got a much-needed haircut from my former Durango barber, Brendan, who had moved to Whitefish about the same time we began our journey. We began wandering downtown Missoula. A bookstore beckoned…wrapped in celephane were a dozen signed first edition Ivan Doig books for $500. I engaged the clerk in conversation.

What J. Frank Dobie is to Texas Literature, what William Faulkner is to Mississippi Literature, what John Steinbeck is to California Literature, what Walt Whitman or Nathaniel Hawthorne is to New York Literature…that is what Ivan Doig is to Montana Literature. If you have not read Ivan Doig, you are simply not a Montanan.

Ivan’s hometown in Montana. We passed through on our way from Glaciar National Park to the headwaters of the mighty Missouri.

Ivan writes of the early experiences of settlers on the frontiers of Montana. He writes the way the Scandanavians whose lives grace his stories speak. It takes a while to get used to the lingo but it is well worth the time.

Montana State Highway 89 which we traveled for many miles on our road south is the Ivan Doig Memorial Highway. We will be reading more from Ivan.

Peace…Wanderers in Wonder.