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Overview
In 1964 Annick Smith came to Montana with her husband Dave and their boys. In a fertile valley where meadows tip downward toward the Big Blackfoot River, they found what they had dreamed of: 163 acres of ranch land with a view of creek, hills, and the Rattlesnake Mountains. The Montana of which Annick Smith writes in this spirited and generous book is the not-so-distant West of outlaws and pioneers, Indians and soldiers, range inspectors and cattle thieves. Smith writes of her friendship with Norman Maclean, who memorialized the Big Blackfoot in A River Runs Through It, and she eloquently makes the case for preserving the fragile wild environments that are our sacred places.Synopsis
In 1964 Annick Smith came to Montana with her husband Dave and their boys. In a fertile valley where meadows tip downward toward the Big Blackfoot River, they found what they had dreamed of: 163 acres of ranch land with a view of creek, hills, and the Rattlesnake Mountains. The Montana of which Annick Smith writes in this spirited and generous book is the not-so-distant West of outlaws and pioneers, Indians and soldiers, range inspectors and cattle thieves. Smith writes of her friendship with Norman Maclean, who memorialized the Big Blackfoot in A River Runs Through It, and she eloquently makes the case for preserving the fragile wild environments that are our sacred places.
Publishers Weekly
Coproducer of A River Runs Through It and executive producer of Heartland, Smith has lived in Montana for more than 30 years. With her husband, Dave, and their four sons, she moved to a ranch near the Big Blackfoot River. It fulfilled their dreams, though they knew Dave had a fatal heart disease; he died at 41. Smith recalls her childhood in Chicago as the daughter of Hungarian migrs, likening her move westward to that of her parents. She offers vivid descriptions of the landscape, of adventures large and small. Smith writes about backpacking into the Bob Marshall wilderness, about her friendship with Norman McLean (who wrote A River Runs Through It) and about her efforts to preserve the land. A joyous celebration of wilderness. Author tour. (May)