James WelchΒ (1940 β 2003) was the author of the novelsΒ Winter in the Blood,Β The Death of Jim Loney,Β Fools CrowΒ (for which he received theΒ Los Angeles TimesΒ Book Prize, an American Book Award, and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award),Β The Indian Lawyer, andΒ The Heartsong of Charging Elk. Β Welch also wrote a nonfiction book,Β Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little BighornΒ and theΒ Fate of the Plains Indians, and a work of poetry,Β Riding the Earthboy 40. He attended schools on the Blackfeet and Fort Belknap reservations in Montana, graduated from the University of Montana, where he studied writing with the late Richard Hugo, and served on the Montana State Board of Pardons.
Thomas McGuane is the author of ten novels, most recently Driving on the Rim. He lives on a ranch in Montana.