Montana town to host festival honoring author Norman Maclean

Young Men and Fire

The Montana town of Seeley Lake will host its first ever Norman Maclean literary festival this summer, celebrating the author’s works and his life fishing and exploring in Montana.

Maclean, best known for his novella “A River Runs Through It” and “Young Men and Fire” — his recounting of the Mann Gulch fire of 1949 — will be honored with lectures from former students, fishing hole tours and trips to the Mann Gulch burn area. Maclean’s son, journalist and author John Maclean, will speak, and National Book Award winner Pete Dexter will deliver a keynote address. Dexter is also the author of “The Old Man and the River,” about Norman’s life in Seeley Lake.

The three-day event will also feature tours of conservation efforts on the Blackfoot River, and full day trip to Mann Gulch with a forester who toured the area with Maclean while he was researching for his book.

The festival will run from July 10 to 13th, and tickets can be purchased on a daily-event basis. Local non-profit Alpine Artisans is sponsoring the event.

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