The Mineral County Public Library in Superior held a “Meet and Greet” with two Montana authors on Friday. They were Russell Rowland, a Billings author who just released the book “Fifty-Six Counties: A Montana Journey,” along with Superior author, Mike Lapinski, who released “Damaged Goods.”

Librarian, Guna Chaberek coordinated the event, and greeted about a dozen people who attended. They gathered around the authors, seated in metal folding chairs, among shelves of books, and small tables set up to display the authors books that were for sale.

This was Lapinski’s second work of fiction, his first book was “The Last Orphan Train” released in October of 2014. “Damaged Goods” is about an “unlikely relationship between a disgraced evangelist, Elle Liddic, and an ex-marine suffering from PTSD, Uriah Frustieri,” according to the book’s cover.

“My grandson is Uriah,” said Lapinski, and explained that he’s witnessed PTSD first-hand because his grandson, Thomas, is in the marines and did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, and suffers from the affliction.

In the book, Uriah uses vigilante justice against his antagonists and has some dark events that take place. Lapinski said that everything in the book is something that he’s either seen or experienced himself, or he knows someone who has experienced it, “this is not made up stuff,” he explained.

Lapinski has authored 13 non-fiction outdoor books and has written numerous magazine articles. Including “True Stories of Bear Attacks: Who Survived and Why”; “All About Elk (Hunter’s Information Series)”; and “Wilderness Predators of the Rockies: The Bond Between Predator and Prey”.

He moved to Superior in 1978, and early in his career he was a wildlife photographer. Currently, he’s found an interest in wolverines. He said that there’s some controversy as to whether there are wolverines in the great burn area, around Fish Creek area, and around the Heart Lake Trail. He put a camera up there a few years ago and has captured some on film.

He knows the mountains around Mineral County well, and has worked as a logger, and has a nearby gold mine.

“If this book is a success, I may write a sequel,” he said. In the meantime, he’ll be in the mountains, searching for gold and wolverines.

Rowland is an unassuming man, dressed in a plaid shirt and blue jeans, with black rimmed glasses and a balding hairline. He’s a fourth generation Montanan and his book took him on a two year journey around Montana. He seems to blend in well with the local culture and through interviews with county residents, and through his many observation of life in Big Sky country, he’s been able to capture the essence of what it’s like to live in this state.

He said that he raised the funds for his travels through a Kickstarter Campaign online. His publisher loved the idea and fully supported the effort.

“I was surprised at how well it turned out,” he said.

Mineral County Museum curator, Kay Strombo, was featured in book on page 167.

Rowland wrote, “I met Kay Strombo who turned out to be one of the most enthusiastic tour guides ever. Kay is the kind of person I’d love to introduce to people who have stereotypical ideas of what Montanans are like. Smart, and not just about her area. Kay was a slim, older woman, with bright eyes and a ready smile.”

Strombo, who was at the meeting, was thrilled that Rowland referred to her as “slim”, and thanked him profusely.

The author said that when he started the book, it sounded like a travel guide. He then tried some different approaches and finally decided on developing it by industry, including mining, railroad, logging, and farming. He said that themes started to emerge as he explored the counties, and threads, or storylines, began to appear throughout the book.

“You begin to see patterns,” he said, “I started in Beaverhead County where there were the vigilantes. That movement was the result of people having to take care of themselves, because the government couldn’t. It also showed the ‘boom and bust’ of living in Montana.”

He went on to say that isolation is another challenge of living in the state, “there’s a mentality to ‘not bother others with your problems’, which can lead to mental issues like suicide.”

He also talked about the stark difference between eastern and western Montana, “even though there isn’t a sign that says ‘welcome to eastern Montana’, you know when you’ve crossed that line.”

Rowland went on to talk about the different people he met along the way,and the economics of different areas. This lead into a discussion of what will become of many of smaller communities around the state, like Mineral County.

Several people in the small group expressed concern that the small towns will simply ‘die out’ since people are moving out and nobody new is coming back into the areas. Rowland said that he’s on a tour to promote his book, revisiting many of the areas where he did interviews. His book is for sale at the Mineral County Museum, as well as in local bookstores, and online at Amazon.com. Lapinski book is also on Amazon, in bookstores, and for sale at Jackie’s Floral Shop in Superior.