The Montana Book Award committee chose three honor books:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chris Cauble, phone 1-866-787-2363

“Crown of the Continent” honored by Montana Book Award

“This is the book you give to friends who wished they lived in Montana,”

says Montana Book Award committee.

“Crown of the Continent: The Last Great Wilderness of the Rocky Mountains,” written by Ralph Waldt and published by Riverbend Publishing of Helena, received a 2004 honor from the Montana Book Award.

“This beautiful collection belongs on every Montana coffee table,” said the award committee in making the announcement. “This is the book you give to friends who wished they lived in Montana.”

“Crown” is a large hardcover book with 150 color photos of the Crown of the Continent ecosystem, which covers more than 10 million acres in northern Montana, southeastern British Columbia, and southwestern Alberta. The area includes Glacier National Park, the Rocky Mountain Front, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex.

Waldt, a professional naturalist with The Nature Conservancy, spent more than 30 years exploring the area, including many years at the Conservancy’s Pine Butte Guest Ranch. In the book he vividly describes the area’s ecology, wildlife, and wild places.

Testifying to the area’s significance, noted Montana novelist Ivan Doig wrote the book’s foreword, Missoula grizzly bear expert Dr. Charles Jonkel wrote the preface, and “National Geographic” writer and Whitefish resident Douglas Chadwick penned the afterword.

“Crown” was released in October 2004 and sold out its first printing in eight weeks. It has 168 pages and sells for $29.95 at bookstores throughout the state.

“Crown” is the second Riverbend title to receive an honor from the Montana Book Award. The publisher’s very first title, “Silence and Solitude: Yellowstone’s Winter Wilderness,” received an honor in 2002.

“Crown” was the only book published by a Montana company to be honored by the 2004 awards. The 2004 Montana Book Award winner was “Useful Girl” (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill) by Marcus Stevens of Belgrade. It is a contemporary love story juxtaposed against a historical accounting of a young Cheyenne girl’s life. Two other books received honors. They were Hannah Hinchman’s “Little Things in a Big Country” (Norton) about the Rocky Mountain Front, and “Tree Girl” (HarperTempest) by Bozeman writer Ben Mikaelsen about a Mayan teenager during a civil war.

Note: The Friends of the Missoula Public Library founded the Montana Book Award in 2002 and a committee of individuals representing geographic distribution throughout Montana selects the winners. Members of the 2004 Montana Book Award committee included Bette Ammon, Missoula; Cheryl J. Heser, Forsyth; Penny Hughes-Briant, Great Falls; Bill Kehler, Billings; Haven Gourneau, Poplar; Jan Zauha, Bozeman; Samantha Pierson, Libby; and Susan Duffy, Missoula. The MBA chairperson is Brigid Wilson, Missoula. Corporate sponsorship of the Montana Book Award is provided by Fact & Fiction Bookstore (Missoula).

Eligible titles must be set in Montana, deal with Montana themes or issues, or be written or illustrated by a Montana author or artist. Books for all ages are considered for the award. For more information, contact Brigid A.O. Wilson, Chairperson, (406) 721-5015, baow@bresnan.net, or visit www.missoula.lib.mt.us/mtbookaward.html.

Press releases and related documents may be copied electronically at www.riverbendpublishing.com. Click to the book description and click on “Press releases.” Or email ccauble@riverbendpublishing.com to have the documents sent via email.