Rick Bass – ‘Why I Came West’ is about one man’s fight to save Montana’s Yaak Valley

Short story master Rick Bass dispenses with his fiction career in the process

Suppose you moved to a new natural place and fell passionately in love with it. Suppose then, by living in this place for many years, you begin to learn that it faces imminent destruction by humans. What would you do to save this place?

Rick Bass’ answer to the question, to save his beloved Yaak Valley in northwestern Montana, was to sacrifice his fiction career and become "the most hated man in the largest county in the United States."

Why I Came West: A Memoir – http://www.amazon.com/Why-I-Came-West-Memoir/dp/0618596755

MATT LOVE
Special to The Oregonian

Full Story: http://www.oregonlive.com/O/artsandbooks/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/121503571070900.xml&coll=7