Room to swing my arms ...

There is no doubt that Montana has been host to more than its share of literary giants ... more than almost any other state, especially taking into account our minimal population. One of the very best was Joseph Kinsey Howard, whose volume, Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome is easily one of the finest state histories ever written.

Here's one of many quotes by Howard that you're likely to see here, one that encapsulates the reasons he loved living in Montana. This comes from an interview he gave to Venture, a literary magazine once published at the University of Montana in Missoula:

This sums up what I want in life -- room to swing my arms and to swing my mind. Where is there more opportunity than in Montana for creation of these broad margins, physical and intellectual? Where is there more opportunity to enjoy the elemental values of living, bright sun, and clean air and space? We have room. We can be neighbors without getting in each other's hair. We can be individuals.