Today's quote is from a piece called "Cecil Migrates," by an author named Ellen Meloy; it was published in the 1988 volume Montana Spaces. Meloy was a naturalist, writer, and artist who moved to Montana in the 1970s for graduate school, and stayed for over a decade before emigrating to the canyon country of southeastern Utah.
Before Alaska came along and ruined everything, one of every twenty-five square miles in America was Montanan. This much space has nurtured a healthy Cult of Place in which people find perfection, even divinity in the landscape; they finally admit that here man and earth are in the right proportion to one another.
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...so I looked for Ellen, wondering where the hell was I to not have heard of her. Came away with a new ideas. Thank goodness for the curiosity to discover. http://www.ellenmeloy.com The 'tributes' page is especially interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'd actually never heard of her, either, until I discovered a portion of the quote that's posted here. (Interestingly, all of the online versions of that quote that I've seen omit the last phrase, which I think is the best part ... makes me glad that I always double-check the quotes before I put them up here.)
ReplyDeleteAnd many thinks for pointing me to that Tributes page! I'm going looking for more of her writing, as well ... in part because the Utah canyon country is an old stomping ground of mine.
I've requested two of her books from Hayden Library, and BTW, at my request Hayden bought Ken Robison's book on Fort Benton. Tickles me to be the first one to check it out. Nice old photos and much commentary about my fave town.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've ordered a used copy of her "Raven's Exile" book on Amazon ... though nothing can completely replace a good used bookstore, I do love the way you can find almost any used book on Amazon for just a couple bucks.
ReplyDeleteI need to look for that Robison book, too! Which reminds me ... it's about time I do a couple of Fort Benton posts here. I suppose I absolutely have to start with Shep ... :)
The Fort Benton River Press is the retailer for the book I think...it's part of the Postcard Series...sells for $21.95. Ken's Blog has all the info...
ReplyDeletePoor Shep never knew he'd be so famous...*S*