University of Montana Press rolls again

UM’s newly revived book press recently celebrated its latest release — “Last Tango in Melrose, Montana,” a collection of 31 humorous essays by Dan Vichorek

Vichorek, a UM graduate, wrote about the places, farmers, ranchers and overall way of life in Big Sky Country.

Book editor John Kuglin writes in the introduction: “Like the contents of the mound on Vichorek’s incredibly messy desk, you’ll find things in this anthology that you never expected.” Royalties from “Last Tango in Melrose, Montana” will fund a UM journalism scholarship in Vichorek’s name.

The UM Press published its first book in 1955, but the venture foundered and disappeared in the 1970s.

In 2004 the press was reborn in the modern James E. Todd Building offices of UM’s Printing & Graphic Services. Before “Last Tango,” the press published a series of maps and a book produced by Farcountry Press.

President George Dennison has charged a seven-member committee with keeping the UM Press rolling.