Ivan Doig (June 27, 1939- April 9,2015), a third generation Montanan, was born in White Sulphur Springs, Montana. He grew up along the Rocky Mountain front where much of his writing takes place. His highly acclaimed memoir This House of Sky (1978), was a finalist for the National Book Award. A former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Doig graduated from Northwestern University where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism. He earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington in 1969, and during his career was the recipient of three honorary doctorates. In the century’s-end San Francisco Chronicle polls to name the best Western novels and works of non-fiction, Doig was the only living writer with books in the top dozen on both lists: English Creek in fiction and This House of Sky  in non-fiction. He lived in Seattle with his wife Carol, who taught the literature of the American West.