So Many Words

Readings, interviews, talks and discussions about reading and writing.

Recent shows
  • Cora Neumann Grassroots to Global: The Power of Public Health

    In celebration of Women’s History Month, Montana State University Bozeman’s Women’s Center sponsored a special lecture titled, Grassroots to Global: The Power of Public Health, by public health practitioner, policy advocate and non-profit strategist, Dr. Cora Neumann, founder of the First Ladies Global Alliance.
    Dr. Neumann has over twenty years of experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, including working at the U.S. State Department, the RAND Corporation, the Bush Institute, Care.com, and the World Health Organization. Throughout her career, she has designed
    strategies and brought together local, Indigenous and national leaders to deliver quality, accessible health care and social services to under served communities.
    In 2009, she launched the Global First Ladies Alliance (GFLA) in partnership with the offices of First Ladies Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, and has worked with more than 40 first ladies around the world to support their delivery of critical social services to their populations. In 2023, GFLA partnered with Columbia University to launch an annual executive leadership training with First Ladies, including First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
    Cora Neumann currently serves as Chief Community Health Officer at the Native American Development Corporation. She brings her sense of public service to her professional life, including serving on the board of Columbia University School of Public Health, and as a former regional Vice
    President of the Montana Public Health Association. She has a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University and doctorate in public health and development from the University of Oxford.

    Cora Neumann grew up and is based in Bozeman, Montana, surrounded by four generations of family, from her grandmother to her two children. She is introduced by MSU Women Center’s Director, Betsy Danforth.

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    March 27, 2024

  • Betsy Gaines Quammen & Leisl Carr Childers Ivan Doig Center 11-1-23

    On the evening of November 1, 2023, in the Hager Auditorium of the Museum of the Rockies, The Ivan Doig Center for the Study of the Lands and Peoples of the North American West hosted a conversation between historians, Betsy Gaines Quammen and Leisl Carr Childers, addressing issues raised in Dr. Quammen’s second book, True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America. Her earlier book is American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God and Public Lands in the West.

    Janet Ore, Director of the Ivan Doig Center, began the program by introducing The Wallace Stegner Chair of Western American Studies, Mark Fiege.

    You can hear our interview with Betsy Gaines Quammen about her earlier book, AMERICAN ZION: CLIVEN BUNDY, GOD AND PUBLIC LANDS IN THE WEST, via this link: https://forthright.media/2020/03/18/betsy-gaines-quammen-american-zion-cliven-bundy-god-public-lands-in-the-west/

                  Betsy Gaines Quammen

              Leisl Carr Childers

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    December 4, 2023

  • Peace Prayer Vigil: Gallatin Valley Interfaith Association

    On the afternoon of Sunday, November 12, 2023, near the Pavilion at Bozeman’s Lindley Park, about 100 people gathered for a Peace Prayer Vigil offered by the Gallatin Valley Interfaith Association (GVIA). The Gallatin Valley Interfaith Association’s vision is to bring together people of all faith traditions in the valley to nurture a stronger community through efforts of compassion, peace, respect, justice and love.

    GVIA moderator, Rev. Valerie Webster, welcomed the crowd and GVIA Vice Moderator, Rev. Karen DeCotis of the Dharma Buddhist Center offered a Land Acknowledgement. She was followed by Rabbi Sonata Pilz of Congregation Beth Shalom, Dr Ruhul Amin of the Bozeman Islamic Center, Sally Noble of the Baha’i Community of MT, Kathleen Wetstein of Resurrection Parish, Rev. Margo Rineheart of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bozeman, and Bozeman Dharma Center’s, Rev. Karen DeCotis. Rev. Valerie Webster, Ecumenical & Interreligious Officer of the Episcopal Diocese of MT, concluded with a Christian Protestant Prayer.

     

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    November 17, 2023

  • Catch of a Lifetime: John Maclean

    Author, journalist and fly-fisherman, John Maclean has written a revelatory foreword to Ernest Hemingway’s book, A Big Two-Hearted River. Speaking at the Bozeman Public Library, he discussed how a short story changed the direction of his life. Maclean was joined by Valerie Hemingway, who added insights and historical notes from her own personal experience.

    Recorded at the Bozeman Public Library on September 29, 2023.

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    October 15, 2023

  • Stephen Trimble THE MIKE FILE: A Story of Grief and Hope

    On the evening of September 6, 2023, MSU Bozeman’s Ivan Doig Center presented a talk by noted Western writer, Stephen Trimble, about his memoir, THE MIKE FILE: A STORY OF GRIEF AND HOPE. The Mike File is about his older brother, Mike, and the shaping of his family by Mike’s mental illness, during an era of inadequate understanding, diagnosis, treatment, or mental health resources.

    Stephen Trimble was introduced by Janet Ore, Director of the Ivan Doig Center.

    You can find out more here: http://www.stephentrimble.net

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    September 8, 2023

  • Noam Chomsky Rethinking the Civic Imagination & Manufactured Ignorance in the Post Pandemic World

    On October 4, 2021, world renowned linguist, philosopher, historian and activist, Noam Chomsky gave a talk titled, ‘RETHINKING THE CIVIC IMAGINATION AND MANUFACTURED IGNORANCE IN THE POST PANDEMIC WORLD.”

    It was sponsored by Dr. Ian McKay, Chair of The Wilson Institute for Canadian History and Dr. Henry A. Girous, Chair of the Centre for Scholarship in the Public Interest.

    His most recent book is THE PRECIPICE: NEOLIBERALISM, THE PANDEMIC AND URGENT NEED FOR RADICAL CHANGE.

     

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    October 8, 2021

  • Carrie LaSeur – The Creative Writing Process

    As part of the 2020 One Book One Bozeman celebration, Carrie LaSeur spoke about The Creative Writing Process to an enthusiastic crowd at the Country Bookshelf on the afternoon of February 20, 2020.

    Her second novel, THE WEIGHT OF AN INFINITE SKY, was this year’s choice for One Book One Bozeman. It is published by William Morrow.

    Author photo courtesy of Henry Wildenberg

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    February 20, 2020

  • Jo Anne Troxel Waiting for the Revolution: A Montana Memoir 2-20-20

    On the evening of February 12, 2020, the Country Bookshelf was filled to bursting with an enthusiastic crowd of fans and well-wishers gathered to celebrate the publication of Bozeman octogenarian  luminary, Jo Anne Troxel’s,  book, WAITING FOR THE REVOLUTION: A MONTANA MEMOIR, published by Sweetgrass Books.  She was introduced by the Country Bookshelf’s Kasey Kane Charbonneau.

     

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    February 12, 2020

  • John C. Russell – Treasure State Tycoon: Nelson Story and the Making of Montana

    Bozeman historian and past director of the Gallatin Historical Society, John C. Russell, read from his book, TREASURE STATE TYCOON: NELSON STORY AND THE MAKING OF MONTANA, published by the Montana Historical Society Press, at the Country Bookshelf on Dec. 10, 2019.

    Treasure State Tycoon recounts the remarkable life of Nelson G. Story, a colorful and contradictory figure whose influence on Montana’s development was profound and rivaled by few others in its history. Story’s reputation for ruthlessness in both personal and professional conduct was well earned, but he was also a generous philanthropist, supporting local churches, schools, and other civic improvements.

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    December 10, 2019

  • “Legacy of War” with Ed Marohn

    Ed Marohn served in the Vietnam War as a US Army captain in the 101st Airborne Division commanding a combat unit. That experience, and his volunteer work with vets who have PTSD, are the background for his new novel, which stems from an idea he had when he returned to modern day Vietnam in 2009. Legacy of War is set 30 years after the war ended, and is an action-adventure which begins when a new patient triggers psychologist John Moore’s traumatic memories of his last days of the Vietnam War. In the following talk, Marohn describes the novel and how it relates to the mental health symptoms of PTSD.

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    December 1, 2019

  • Les AuCoin Catch and Release: An Oregon Life in Politics

    Former Bozeman resident and Oregon Democratic Member of the House of Representatives, Les AuCoin read from his memoir, Catch and Release: An Oregon Life in Politics, at the Country Bookshelf on November 7, 2019. He also answered questions from the large, enthusiastic crowd.

    Catch and Release: An Oregon Life in Politics, had just been published by the University of Oregon Press.

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    November 7, 2019

  • Gary Ferguson The Eight Master Lessons of Nature

    On November 5, 2019 at Bozeman’s independent bookstore, The Country Bookshelf, local best-selling author, Gary Ferguson, read from his latest book, The Eight Master Lessons of Nature: What Nature Teaches Us About Living Well in the World, published by Dutton. He was joined at times by his partner, cultural psychologist, Mary Clare.

    You can find out more about their work here: https://fullecology.com

    To hear the Ecotones interview with Gary & Mary about Full Ecology from December 19, 2019 click on this link: https://forthright.media/2019/12/21/full-ecology-dr-mary-m-clare-gary-ferguson/

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    November 6, 2019

  • Montanan Taylor Gordon and the Harlem Renaissance

    Professor Michael Johnson, in his book Can’t Stand Still: Taylor Gordon and the Harlem Renaissance, tells the story of Taylor Gordon, an African American who grew up in White Sulphur Springs, Montana. Gordon, who lived 1893–1971, was discovered by John Ringling, and went on to become an internationally famous singer at the height of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. Together with Rosamond Johnson, he introduced white audiences to African American spirituals. Later in his life, following a bout of mental illness, he returned to live in White Sulphur Springs, which he portrayed with a tinge of idealism in the book he wrote, Born to Be. He always thought of self as Westerner. At the end of his presentation, Johnson played a clip from a privately held recording of Taylor Gordon singing, which we do not have rights to share here.

    Recorded at Montana State University on October 22, 2019.

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    October 27, 2019

  • An Enemy of the People

    Bozeman Actors Theatre will present the play An Enemy of the People in Bozeman at the Hager Auditorium at Museum of the Rockies. Performances will run from October 10 through October 20. This 1882 creation by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen tells the story of Thomas Stockman, a man who dares to speak the unfortunate truth about water contamination in his town, and is punished for it. In the following conversation, we discuss the play with Director Gordon Carpenter and dramaturg Gretchen Minton.

    Recorded on October 1, 2019.

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    October 6, 2019

  • Ernest Hemingway in the Yellowstone High Country

    There are numerous connections between Ernest Hemingway and Montana. Author Chris Warren, himself a resident of Cooke City, an area Hemingway visited, recently gave a reading from his book Ernest Hemingway in the Yellowstone High Country. Besides a number of Hemingway anecdotes that found their way into the novels, such as the story of a serious automobile accident and its aftermath, Warren mentions the 2020 International Hemingway Conference which is coming to Montana and Wyoming.

    Recorded September 26, 2019 at the Country Bookshelf in Bozeman.

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    September 29, 2019

  • Shakespeare Reimagined in Montana

    Professor Gretchen Minton of Montana State University has written and is presenting an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens–renamed Timon of Anaconda–set in 1960s-70s Butte, Montana. The play tells the story of a mining mogul who loses everything and is abandoned by his friends. He then attempts to retreat to the wilderness, only to find that there is no place that does not have the mark of human activity. Minton uses Shakespeare as a means of exploring human impact on the earth, encouraging us to consider our role in ecological disaster, and also imagine a way forward that can include better stewardship of our natural world.

    In this interview, Minton discusses the meaning and significance of her project, including the larger context of theater for education and change. For further information, visit her webpage at www.gretchenminton.com.

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    September 6, 2019

  • Bryce Andrews: Down from the Mountain

    To hear this Country Bookshelf reading from Down From the Mountain by award winning Montana author, rancher, conservationist, Bryce Andrews, stream or download below.

    Bryce Andrews is Field Director for People and Carnivores, an organization based in Bozeman, MT, that works to reconnect and restore carnivore populations in the Northern Rockies, by working with the region’s people to prevent human-carnivore conflicts.  They work with landowners and managers, Tribes, community groups, and other NGOs to keep people safe, – and bears, wolves, and cougars wild. You can find out more about their work here:  https://peopleandcarnivores.org/

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    April 27, 2019

  • Gretchen Minton on Shakespeare’s Last Best Place

    Gretchen Minton, English professor and Shakespearean expert at Montana State University, describes a long, and perhaps surprising, love affair in a Provost’s Lecture entitled “Shakespeare’s Last Best Place.” Even illiterate mountain man Jim Bridger loved Shakespeare so much that he hired people to tell him Shakespeare’s stories at campfires as he broke trails in early-day Montana. So began an evolving relationship between the Bard and the Big Sky state, which continues today in Minton’s latest project.

    Recorded on March 5, 2019 at the Museum of the Rockies.

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    March 17, 2019

  • David Treuer The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present

    On March 12th, 2019, University of Southern California Professor, David Treuer, spoke at the Country Bookshelf about his work and his latest book,  THE HEARTBEAT OF WOUNDED KNEE: NATIVE AMERICA FROM 1890 TO THE PRESENT, published by Riverhead Books.  He is a critically acclaimed writer, anthropologist, and journalist, and an Ojibwe from the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. He traces the rich, resilient and multi-dimensional story that Native people have been living over the past century, and adds new chapters to the story of American Indian creativity and resilience in our modern times.  The massacre at Wounded Knee was indisputably a devastating low point—but seen clearly, it is only one of many challenges to which Indian people have risen tirelessly, and with ingenuity, since first contact.

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    March 13, 2019