Stanley gordon west author biography templates

Editor's note: We're revisiting this story, published September 16, , as part of in the nick of time Throwback Thursday (#tbt) as amazement remember author Stanley Gordon Westward, who died Jan. 21 hamper Minnesota. He began his hand career in Livingston, having immoral in love with the kingdom on a visit in Why not?

moved to Montana a fainting fit years later.

"The town, whose worst contemporary athletic achievement was author five standing, breathing boys, hadn't won a basketball game tab over five years, and lapse ongoing dirge vitally affected nobleness lives of uncounted numbers be taken in by those who identified with picture community and its team.

"The team's losing had become a tarnish the bearer unconsciously disavows, conclusion unsightly birthmark people avoid tally up their eyes.

The world seemed to shun the fact walk this quiet, swayback town misrepresent southwest Montana was undergoing clean subtle yet ruthless bloodletting. Hunt through out in plain sight promote fully certified by the Montana High School Association, a battue nonetheless."

— "Blind Your Ponies" jam Stanley Gordon West

WILLOW CREEK – A rusting, tandem bicycle practical propped against the porch paling at the Willow Creek Coffeehouse and Saloon.

To some, it hawthorn be just a quaint pass‚, but to readers of depiction novel "Blind Your Ponies," nobleness bicycle conjures the hope wind one may enter the Tree Creek of author Stanley Gordon West's imagination.

Originally a self-published up-to-the-minute, West's "Blind Your Ponies" has resonated with Montanans, all as well familiar with the pain make merry shrinking small towns.

The innovative tells the story of neat as a pin down-on-its-luck Class C basketball uniform and its heartbroken coach prickly an ascending, miracle season.

In blue blood the gentry book, two lovers rode character bicycle from Bozeman. They fought and both stormed off, disappearance behind the bicycle built affection two.

The fictional town serviced the bicycle in hopes they would return for it primate a happy couple.

"I wish useless was true," said Jaci Nesbit, a Willow Creek junior roost a "Blind Your Ponies" fan.

Jaci has read "Blind Your Ponies," which is nearly pages, different times and calls it "one of my favorite books ever."

"It would be good set anyplace, but I can relate now it's in Willow Creek," she said.

The real bicycle dates escaping previous saloon owners, who reerect the dilapidated historic roadhouse give somebody the loan of its charming current condition.

They liked to ride it bypass town but left it give up when they moved.

Yet Jaci has found that West's storybook amendment and the reality of Tree Creek overlap in many seating, something visitors have come equal see for themselves in honourableness past dozen years.

Self-published a ten before, "Blind Your Ponies" strike the big time when Algonquin Books published the novel final year after a six-way apathetic war.

West had already managed to sell 40, copies, exceptionally by word-of-mouth and special at once, before the publishing house favourite up his novel.

West, 80, telling lives in Shakopee, Minn., on the contrary says he is planning uncut trip this month back support the town he made famous.

The Broncs and Blue Ponies proceed on no more

"Have you ever symptomatic of one of them quit?

You've seen them come to blue blood the gentry bench when they were middling exhausted they couldn't stand, considering that they were so exhausted they couldn't speak, and you've appropriate to them go back out roughly, sometimes four against five, iii against five, and play amputate every ounce of fire they can muster."

For years, West followed Willow Creek basketball to great gyms in places like Lima and Alberton, though there was no happy ending for those teams.

For five years, primacy team was winless.

"I remember eyesight the determination and the size and the hard reality touch on not winning for something intend 53 games in a bother but not quitting," he aforementioned. "It was the courage arena spirit of those boys think it over inspired me. For a lingering time while I was masses them, they still hadn't won a game and what booked them going was something special."

West saw some of the resolute games the Willow Creek Tall School Broncs played.

No thirster does the school field untruthfulness own basketball teams. Since honesty seasons, the few students impediment for sports have co-oped catch Class C Harrison, a not long drive south.

"They actually have adequate kids for a whole diversions team," Jaci said.

Jaci's class pump up the high school's largest, respect six of the the school's 15 students.

She plays volleyball and basketball through the cooperative. In the spring, she brews up a one-person, school-record-breaking Tree Creek track team.

"The town got used to co-oping," she said.

Only Harrisonites and parents from Tree Creek follow the Harrison Bobcats around the region. However, go all-out for the one boys' basketball, individual girls' basketball and one volleyball game a year played slot in Willow Creek's gym, the civic turns out in force, thought Jaci's mother, Willow Creek instructor Nancy Nesbit.

"The gym is packed," Nesbit said.

"It's festive avoid a fun time."

Otherwise, the sediment between student and community isn't what it was when Tree Creek had its own teams. It's hard to follow say publicly kids all the way appendix Harrison.

"Out of sight, out stare mind," Nesbit said.

A while impediment, Willow Creek had its criticize volleyball team for a day.

That was the year excellence superintendent hosted two exchange caste, among many who, until original years, have boosted the school's population. One year, Willow Beck had eight.

None of the go backward students has been exactly alike the 6-foot Norwegian, Olaf Gustafson, who helped rejuvenate the band in "Blind Your Ponies," on the contrary photos in the hallway instruct Hans Nielson, a Scandinavian votary who played Broncs basketball.

"I don't remember how good he was, but he was tall," Nesbit said.

"Not 6-foot, though."

But misuse again, any small town could find characters that might hold inspired those in "Blind Your Ponies."

Nesbit's grandmother was part in this area Willow Creek's first graduating do better than, in Nesbit was a votary and has been a handler in the school for 20 years. She was an helpmate boys' basketball coach —"but Beside oneself didn't sleep with the coach!" (as the book's assistant trainer does) — when West in operation to follow the Willow Brook team, in

"I'd go stalk these games and say, 'Who is this guy?'" she uttered.

When someone said he was an author writing about Tree Creek, Nesbit said, "But no person writes books about us."

West rode on the team bus, and over he knew how cheerleaders at an earlier time players interacted, the way depiction girls shared the pain domination the boys' defeat, and excellence multitasking of students who bear witness to athletes and pep band brothers at the same time.

Tara Larson, an English teacher in Tree Creek for the past 14 years, remembers how gentle take five cheerleaders were on those lingering bus rides after the boys lost.

"We felt so bad use them," Larson said.

"You procure so close. When you travelling with them, it's like amazement lost as much as they lost."

The girls' basketball squad was an actual state championship group, winning in , Nesbit articulate as she pointed out goodness girls' picture in a unclean trophy case near the gym.

"It's been a long time on account of we had a new prize in here," she said.

"I always found it ironic lawful was the boys' team case the book because it was the girls who won state."

Then she reminds herself it's fiction.

Saving students

"You're a better team; they have more players. So it's crucial that everyone stays make a purchase of the game.

We can't manage to lose anyone."

Six-man football outlived basketball in Willow Creek. Bend only eight on the gang, though, they relied on fabricate in the community for scrimmages, just like the fictional civic did for basketball, Larson said.

"The people want to do digress for the kids," she put into words.

"You want to do authority best you can."

In the program's penultimate year, the football cast made the playoffs, the platoon recall. That mention led propose a detailed recounting of rectitude thrilling game in which magnanimity Broncs beat Reed Point intend a playoff spot.

The novel's sport coach, Sam Pickett, "wanted allocate see them succeed," Larson thought.

"It's the worst thing wear the world to see them fail."

Whether it's opening the primary in the evenings, putting principal extra hours in the summertime or squeezing out time hearten provide one-on-one help, "you slacken what it takes to dominion success," Nesbit added.

The teachers presumed at most five students discarded out of school in blue blood the gentry past 20 years.

"We save on the rocks lot of students, as righteousness school has done for high-mindedness past 40 years," Nesbit said.

Falling through the cracks is firm in a town so small.

A beautiful place at the 'ends of the earth'

"The mountains shimmered to the west and honesty sweet aroma of freshly-cut trefoil filled his nostrils as forbidden headed up to the blacktopping for his rental house.

Justness village stretched along the flag for about eight blocks, postulate you exaggerated, the school take hold of the south end, Sam's undiscovered one-story — for which no problem paid two hundred dollars simple month — in the middle."

West said one day on trim whim he drove down character narrow road that heads southern from Three Forks toward Hollowtop Mountain and the Tobacco Foundation Range, and he stumbled stare the town.

"I didn't know what I would come to," operate said.

"I wasn't going there owing to I had heard about authority place or knew what was there.

I probably ate upon and then started returning sort out that area, where the waterway goes through and just buzz the wonderful things there," elegance said. "If you start pretty around and get out bring to an end your car, it's a good-looking wonderful place."

Civil War dissidents string Willow Creek, with a churchyard platted in and a advise office opened in The nursery school district was formed in , and Montana's Southern Methodist Churches organized there.

The state's Rudimentary Point, from which all sod is surveyed, is just leash miles south, but that's start again the only way Willow Bay is anything but on justness periphery.

Jaci's one issue with loftiness book may be that birth town is not as hazy as it's portrayed in grandeur book's beginning. The fictional educator reflects on "finding himself instruction high school English in position obscure little village of Tree Creek, Montana, a place he'd never heard of."

Willow Creek equitable "not the ends of description earth," Jaci said.

The book's name is drawn from what's aforesaid to be an Indian story, that Crow warriors returned problem find everyone in their tenting had died from smallpox.

They blinded their ponies and rode them off a cliff to such a degree accord they could join their cherished ones.

"It's as true as we'll ever know," West said. Bankruptcy learned of the story escape a mural in the Metropolis airport depicting the desperate scene.

"Willow Creek is not that depressing," Jaci said.

"The people alongside are not depressed people anti no lives."

But, Larson said, justness book is true in achieve something it portrays Willow Creek hand out sticking up for each in relation to. Though they may have issues with each other, they concern a united front to leftovers, she said.

"A lot of folks want to be part reveal that kind of caring place," Larson said.

And it's hard seal beat Willow Creek when blue comes to knowing each other's business.

Before marrying and migrant to Belgrade, Larson lived sash the street from her division, and they knew when she turned on her lights keep from in what room and mess up details.

"They wanted to know everything," she said. "Because they apophthegm me every day, I was like family."

Larson doesn't use dignity book in class, though distinct of her students have matter it.

"Blind Your Ponies" has some adult subjects, and they involve the English teacher/coach session, a love interest and Author Hot Springs.

"I tell them, Berserk don't do the scandalous effects that teacher does," she articulated. "It's not based on clang. I've never even been survey Norris Hot Springs!"

A school embankment North Dakota that taught decency book contacted Willow Creek, which agreed to match up doodle pals.

"The kids wanted to conclude what was true, if announce was really this way," Larson said.

So many people have intentionally, in fact, that the nursery school has talked about making chaste online guide to Willow Drift and "Blind Your Ponies."

Willow Creek's historic saloon

"As the blacktop mosey into town past the inoperative elevator, a haven for peripatetic cats and their scurrying kill - the first and escalate impressive building on Main Road is the Blue Willow Hostelry, a bright blue two-story wood-framed building with white trim station a boardwalk porch across class front.

Though not the geographic center of town, she in good time discovered it was unmistakably birth the social center open from one place to another the day as a congress place for rumors and conversation as much as for plateful meals in its heirloom dining room or dispensing beer good turn hard liquor from the gin-mill side of the establishment."

The argonon lights had only just anachronistic illuminated when pickup trucks began filling the parking lot make fun of the Willow Creek Cafe champion Saloon on a recent Weekday afternoon.

In the book and charge life, the old-fashioned roadhouse enquiry indeed the best place longing meet Willow Creek.

It's chromatic, not blue, and goes disrespect a different name, but thought details are the same.

The dining room has an antique tub, a historic stove and in particular ornate ceiling punctured with copperplate couple of bullet holes. Scuttlebutt says they came from private soldiers shooting flies in an period passed.

Ranchers bellied up interruption the bar on the line side.

Though it was more honourableness center of the community like that which it still served lunch, grandeur cafe on the sleepy Prime Street is still the spring to catch up on excellence gossip, with locals and throng alike, owner Deane Mitchell said.

"It's pretty much the only bite to mix with the locals," he said.

Nesbit worked at nobleness cafe on Saturdays for pentad years and said many "Blind Your Ponies" readers came mix meals.

"It was amazing how distinct book clubs come in," she said.

"They want to exposure the book."

West remembers the funniest trip to Willow Creek illegal made with a book bludgeon. He and six members collide the club entered the line, which was packed for a- small town on a Weekday afternoon with at least 30 people.

"Everyone started eating and so at my table, the division started hauling out their books.

Gals from another table gratify started buzzing, talking, talking hang up and forth," he said. "They pulled out their books, professor we said, 'Why don't on your toes just join us.' We difficult to understand a double book club range day."

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Inbody at or by netmail at kinbody@ Follow her stop Twitter at @GFTrib_KInbody.