Summing Up

Two years ago, at three in the morning, my stepchildren summoned me to the bedside of my wife, Sue Hart, who had slipped away moments before. I held her hand, thanked her, and told her how much I loved her. Lewy Body Dementia had claimed her.

Today I will visit her grave. We share the headstone and the plot. She was an English professor specializing in Montana literature. She was a legendary figure. Her death was the lead front page story in the Billings Gazette.

She believed, unlike most of her colleagues, in the value of a wide spectrum of literature, including popular fiction. She included aspiring writers in her courses. It didn't matter to her whether a work had been self-published. What counted was the value and merit of the material.

She introduced her students to new authors, such as Diane Smith, who had written two beautiful novels set in this area, published by Viking. She believed that popular fiction could add richly to the depth and beauty of Montana literature. In the process, she helped numerous novelists launch their careers. One of these was Craig Lancaster. She welcomed Wyoming's Craig Johnson, who writes the Longmire series, into her life and her teaching.

We traveled to book conventions where she was always a popular panelist. She was honored with a Governor's Award in the Humanities, and honored by Montana's historical society and was named professor emeritus just before she died.

And honored by me. We didn't have the few years of retirement together we had counted on. But we hold hands.