Pete Fromm
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Pete Fromm was raised in Shorewood, Wisconsin, by his
parents Daniel and Mary Ellen, who spent a great deal of time reading to their six children. After graduating high school, Fromm enrolled at the University of Montana. He
took a winter off from college to guard salmon eggs in the wilderness of Idaho, where his only companions were crates of books sent to him by his family. Fromm spent long nights in his tent with the company of a lantern and
some well-known authors such as Hemingway and Steinbeck. In a rush to graduate, Fromm took the only three-credit class available at night,
creative writing. He graduated in 1981 with high honors and earned a degree in wildlife biology. Though an avid writer, Fromm had never really heard of anyone actually writing for his
career, so he decided to put his degree to use by working for the National Parks Service. Working as a river ranger at Grand Teton and Big Bend National Parks, Fromm patrolled the
waters rescuing boaters in distress or writing out tickets. As park work diminished in the winters, Fromm would return to Montana to write. At first, Fromm, tried to find writing time
around his duties as park ranger, and he would write a few chapters during the course of a day. He then found a new use for his wildlife biology degree. Instead of observing the outdoor world, he began writing about it.
In 1990, Fromm turned to writing full time. Since then, he has sold more than a hundred short stories. Fromm has received two nominations for the Pushcart Award and won two
awards from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers. Fromm's first short story collection, The Tall Uncut, was published in 1992. The following year, Fromm published Indian Creek
Chronicles: A Winter in the Bitterroot Wilderness, an autobiography about the winter he spent guarding salmon eggs in Idaho. He has published four other short story collections and recently published his first novel,
How All This Started. Fromm has made a name for himself since his writing career first started. He has earned comparison with other great Montana authors such as Norman Maclean, Rick Bass and
Thomas McGuane. During the early years of Fromm's writing The New Yorker wanted nothing to do with his work. Since then they have followed him around and made deals for
several publications. Fromm credits the recent publicity to the increase of motion pictures, which make Montana seem more fashionable. He does worry, however, that to many
writers just working for their paycheck will become caught up in the frenzy and downgrade the already existing writers. Writing only takes up part of Fromm's life. He is happily married and the father of two
young sons. Fromm enjoys sharing in the care of his sons. He gets up in the morning, writes until noon or so and then takes a break and spends time with his kids. He says his
children may play a role in his writing just as any other aspect of his life does. Fromm doesn't base his stories on particular people that he knows. They just arise from living
forty years and paying attention to surroundings. Fromm's stories often involve characters realizing their limitations and then making the
best of what they have to work with. He doesn't view himself as a dark or bleak person, but rather a person who treats his characters with respect and leaves them feeling some
hope. Fromm tries not to point any attention toward himself in his stories. He just likes them to tell themselves without him getting in the way. Fromm's target audience is those
who like straight-up writing from an author who really cares about his characters. Things look good for Fromm's future writing career. His publishing company, Picador, is trying to
broaden his audience a bit with his latest book, Night Swimming, which was released in September. Fromm's tour for his new book took him from his hometown of Great Falls to
his old hometown of Milwaukee with a few stops in the Pacific Northwest along the way. II. Literary Works The Tall Uncut- 1992
This essay was submitted by a student of Steve Gardiner, a teacher at Billings Senior High School in Billings, Montana.
Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter in the Bitterroot Wilderness- 1993
Monkey Tag- 1994
King of the Mountain- 1994
Dry rain- 1997
Night Swimming- 1999