1970s

Bernard “Bernie” Cassidy ’74, J.D. ’88, Libby, retired in August after serving as the Lincoln County attorney for more than 20 years. He’s looking forward to spending more time hunting, fishing and putting his Grizzly football season tickets to better use.

An exhibition honoring the work of Peter Rutledge Koch ’70, Berkeley, Calif., opened at Stanford University in May. “Peter Koch Printer: A Forty-year Retrospective” showcases limited-edition books, portfolios and prints by the longtime Bay Area letterpress printer, designer and publisher. Koch, whosetraining, influences and achievements place him in the lineage of San Francisco literary fine press printers, has long been recognized as one of the most accomplished printers and typographic designers of his generation. The works on display, published between 1974 and 2016, span a wide-ranging territory, from cowboy surrealism to pre-Socratic philosophy, and from contemporary and Renaissance poetry to hard-hitting, photo-based requiems to the American West. He spent his youth in Montana, steeped in the lore of the American West and witness to its aftermath of environmental and cultural destruction, which continues to influence his work more than four decades later. Koch’s printing career began in Missoula, where he founded Black Stone Press in 1974.

Matt Ellison '74, Summit, N.J., published his debut novel, “Return to Independence Basin,” in April. The novel, set in the late 1970s, chronicles the protagonist’s return to the small Montana town in which he grew up. Kirkus Reviews featured “Return to Independence Basin” as a Recommended Indie Book in its February issue.

Jeri Tovson O'Neil '74, Polson, is pictured here with her daughter, Megan O'Neil '06, and boyfriend Nick Terhaar '74, in front of a cottage in the rural suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Jeri lived in the cottage during the year she spent teaching in Australia following her graduation from UM, and the three stayed at the same property, which is now a bed-and-breakfast, while on vacation 40 years later, during which Jeri visited many Aussie friends she had kept in touch with via Christmas cards. Jeri is now retired after working as an oil and gas landman for 37 years.

Richard Robbins M.F.A. '79, Mankato, Minn., published “Body Turn to Rain: New and Selected Poems” in May. A former editor of CutBank, UM’s annual literary magazine, Robbins has published five full-length books, including “The Invisible Wedding,” “Famous Persons We Have Known,” “The Untested Hand,” Radioactive City” and “Other Americas.” Since earning his creative writing degree from UM, he’s received awards and fellowships from The Loft, the McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Hawthornden Castle, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Society of America. In 2006, he was awarded the Kay Sexton Award for long-standing dedication and outstanding work in fostering books, reading and literary activity in Minnesota. From 1986 to 2014, Robbins directed the Good Thunder Reading Series at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he continues to lead the creativewriting program.