A letter from the publisher

Many wonderful things have been written about Roger Morris, editor and publisher of The Western News, who died Sept. 21 of cancer.

With each letter and tribute I am learning to better know the man who died too soon. I wish we would have had more time, but I did get a chance to share music, books, movies, art and opinions with him.

Roger was a Renaissance man deeply interested in everyone and everything around him. I gained tremendous respect for his intelligence and saw (even though he tried not to show it) his kindness.

His are big shoes to fill, both literally and figuratively. The staff of The Western News could not have been more supportive of him through his illness or more ready to continue the work of putting out the paper in his absence, which we thought was temporary.

Now we have the task of doing it without him. He put together a great staff. As the new publisher I have this team with me. From Brent Shrum, our new editor, to Teresa, Liz, Gwen, Charles, Sammi, Paul, Stephanie and our corporate family we will strive to continue our service of recording the happenings and history of Libby.

On a personal note, Roger drew my name for our last Christmas gift exchange. He gave me the CD by pianist George Winston, "Montana - A Love Story." I still love my Black Hills and Mount Rushmore in South Daota, but I am a transplant and have come to love the diversity of people and places of Montana and especially Lincoln County. This is my home.

He also gave me a book - "Primal Leadership, Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence." It turned out to be prophetic.

It is an honor to be named publisher and all of us at The Western News will continue to publish the paper with quality and care. - Barb Swenson