Mary Clearman Blew - 1939
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student Echo Savage. I. Biography Mary Clearman Blew is one of the numerous talented authors from the state of Montana. Mary Clearman Blew was born to Albert and Doris (Welch) Hogeland on
December 10, 1939 in Lewistown, Montana. Blew grew up in Lewistown and eventually left Montana to pursue college. Blew first attended the University of Montana, where she her BA and MA degrees. She
then went on to teach there as a graduate assistant Blew continued her education by leaving Montana in 1963 to go on to Missouri where she enrolled in the University of
Missouri-Columbia and received her Ph.D. Blew also taught as an instructor in Missouri as well. After getting her Ph.D., she taught at Northern Montana College for several years.
After graduate school, Blew returned to Montana in 1969 and stayed until 1987. During this time, Blew divorced her husband Ted Clearman whom she had married in 1958. She then
remarried Robert Blew in 1978. Together they had a daughter Rachel, as well as three sons from Robert's previous marriage: Larry, Dan, and Paul. Robert Blew passed away in 1987. Blew also has a foster daughter named Misty Worl.
"I grew up in pre-television Montana, on an isolated ranch, and took to reading and writing naturally," explained Blew. Blew has been particularly influenced by fellow Montana
authors as well as the novels of Mildred Walker, which she read as a teen. Mary Clearman Blew writes short stories and essays, all of which are written in Montana or
Idaho and take varying periods of time to write. She doesn't think a lot about messages in her books saying, " What a writer writes is going to reflect on her views, even if she tries to hide them."
In 1987, Blew moved to Idaho where she started out teaching at the Lewis-Clark State College and then moved on to the University of Idaho, where she currently teaches creative writing in the MFA program.
Besides writing and teaching, Blew also does a lot of consulting-being on panels and giving readings. Blew enjoys reading The New Yorker, Harpers, The Atlantic, High Country News, and
Northern Lights, along with new literary fiction. Her personal favorite of her own collection is usually her most current piece. To the readers, All But the Waltz seems to be the favorite.
Mary Clearman Blew is a gifted writer and most intriguing person. II. Literary Works Lambing Out And Other Stories This essay was submitted by a student of Steve Gardiner, a teacher at Billings Senior High School in Billings, Montana.
Runaway
All But The Waltz
Balsamroot
Circle Of Women
Bone Deep In Landscape: Essays On Reading, Writing, And Place
Sister Coyote: Montana Stories