It was kind of a big deal for me to meet Alvin Josephy. Back in college days, going for my history degree, most of the reading material had moths flutter out when you turned a page because the writing was so old and dry. I remember sitting at a table in the University of Montana Library reading an article that surprised me. I didn’t feel as though I’d been shot in the neck with a tranquilizer dart while reading, which was the typical result of doing my homework.

The approach and ideas seemed fresh off the vine compared to other works I’d stayed awake through, and the presentation didn’t fall back on the common historical writing technique of draping each paragraph with cobwebs to make it seem authentic. I remember flipping back to the title page to see who wrote this, thinking, Who is this? And how’d they sneak this into the history aisle? It was Alvin. Later I came across another article written by him and got the same impression. After that I was a fan and started reading Josephy out of genuine interest.

This cut into what I was supposed to be reading for class instead, so to solve that dilemma I took the liberty of not worrying about it and turned in a research paper that was maybe a touch off-topic. The professor noticed and invited me for a chat in his office. He pointed out there was nothing wrong with the paper I turned in about the Nez Perce of Oregon, except the assignment was specific to the history of Montana. I reminded him that Nez Perce regularly spent time in Montana. He pointed out that was not the point and reminded me who was in charge, which turned out not to be me. But he was nice about it. Had good things to say about Alvin and encouraged me to keep reading him on my own time.

So I did. Then I moved here to the Wallowas, got to interview Alvin for the radio, got to meet Betty and visit their place at Palojami after summer Fishtraps. It was pretty cool to walk around the writing studio and see what was on the bookshelves of somebody you used to cite in bibliographies back in college.

If you knew Alvin and Betty, have a photo or letter tucked away in your own files or feel like sharing your thoughts about Alvin Josephy – get ahold of me. To mark 100 years since Alvin’s birth, the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture is looking for stories and materials from folks who knew the man. Highlights will be collected in a book and the hope is to gather a trove of personal takes on a remarkable guy that the Josephy Center can draw on in the future.

Rich Wandschneider and Cheryl Coughlan are letting me help with this project, and I’ve been having a marvelous time getting a peek at letters, manuscripts and other good stuff in Alvin’s files. If you have something to add, let’s talk. My email is jonrombach@gmail.com. We can make copies of pictures, letters and the like so you can hold onto the originals. We can do a little interview if you want. However you want to do it. Back when we were doing World War II interviews, Biden Tippett mentioned that Alvin recorded Biden during time they spent touring around the county. Those tapes have slipped through the cracks somehow, so if you have a bead on them we’d love to hear those.

Lately I’ve been spending time in the Josephy Library with Rich, taking turns saying, Hey, listen to this, then we read some nugget we’ve just come across. Alvin Josephy covered an amazing amount during his career and it’s exciting to look back at how he did it. I was impressed when I stumbled across his writing back in school and look forward to seeing what others have to say as we collect materials for the Josephy Center archive. I may even send in a research paper once we’re done to that professor who told me to read Alvin on my own time.

Jon Rombach is a local columnist for the Chieftain.