Lovers of Montana history, rescue pets and romance will have a chance to meet authors Catharine Melin-Moser and Gayle M. Irwin on Saturday, May 2, from 3 to 5 pm at Elk River Books in downtown Livingston.
Melin-Moser’s new book, When Montana Outraced the East: The Rise of the Western Thoroughbreds 1886-1900, records in rich detail the stories of Noah Armstrong, Samuel Larabie and Marcus Daly, three Montana frontiersmen who turned from speculation in valuable minerals to speculation in valuable Thoroughbreds. Horse racing traditionalists stood firm: The pioneering idea to breed exquisite Thoroughbred horses in high altitude valleys in “that nowhere of the West” was thought to be “the verist madness.”
But in time, Armstrong, Larabie, and Daly were fielding equine stars, and the nation’s eminent turfmen, newspapers and sporting publications repeated the names of Montana’s swift Thoroughbreds that won the biggest prizes eastern racing offered during America’s Gilded Age. The horses shaped historical events, became sources for local lore and regional pride, and stamped a Montana imprint in American horse racing history.
Irwin is an award-winning Wyoming author and freelance writer, with work recognized by Wyoming Writers, Inc. and the Wyoming Press Association. She is a contributing writer to eight Chicken Soup for the Soul books and regularly writes for WREN Magazine (Wyoming Rural Electric News). During the mid-1990s, she served as editor and reporter for the West Yellowstone News, and she wrote for other Montana publications during her 14 years as a Montanan. She is the author of several contemporary romance stories set in Wyoming and Montana that weave pet rescue and adoption into the love stories. She donates a percentage of book sales to regional animal rescues and shelters.
Both authors will visit with the public and sign copies of their books.
