Born and raised in Montana, author Russell Rowland understands the intense nature of the Montana landscape and communities, something he captures masterfully in his latest work, Fifty-Six Counties: A Montana Journey. Your Lewis & Clark Library is pleased to welcome Russell Rowland to Helena on Sunday, July 9th at 2PM for an intimate discussion of Fifty-Six Counties, the inspiration for the book, and what he learned from his two-year journey.

"An Afternoon with Author Russell Rowland" will focus on Rowland's personal journey from the mines of Butte to the pine forests of the Northwest to the stark, wind-scrubbed badlands of the East to the tourist-driven economies of the mountain West. Rowland explains that throughout the journey "he considered our state's essential character, where we came from and, most of all, what we might be in the process of becoming."

Author David Abrams summarized Rowland's recent work best explaining, "Everything about Montana is big: its proverbial sky, its mountains, its wide open spaces. And yet, Russell Rowland has managed to capture all that grand landscape-and the people who inhabit it-into the intimacy of a single book. Fifty-Six Counties is a remarkable book: a macro-focused narrative using a wide-angle lens."

Russell Rowland is a third generation Montanan, born in Bozeman in 1957. He completed a BA in Music Education at Pacific Lutheran University in 1980, with plans of becoming the next Elton John. These plans were derailed by lack of motivation and talent, and until he discovered Raymond Carver, Russell had very little idea what he wanted to do in life. After deciding to become a writer at the age of 28, he gave himself one year to get published. Fifteen years later, IN OPEN SPACES (Harpercollins 2002) hit the bookshelves, making a fairly big splash with a New York Times Review and a week on the San Francisco Chronicle's bestseller list.

Russell completed his MA in Creative Writing from Boston University, and worked at various odd jobs to support his writing, including the finance department at an advertising agency, a video store clerk, a teacher, and writing fortune cookies. His second and third novels, The Watershed Years (Riverbend 2007) and High and Inside (Bangtail Press, 2012) were both finalists for the High Plains Book Award. He lives in Billings, Montana, where he teaches writing workshops and does private consultation with other writers.

For more information on Russell Rowland, visit russellrowland.com or the Library's website at lclibrary.org.