When 11-year-old Donal Cameron boarded a local bus in Gros Ventre, Montana, in May 1951, he had a transfer ticket to the Greyhound “dog” bus in Great Falls for a cross-country trip to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The $5 bill in his pocket and three $10 bills pinned to the inside of his shirt would carry him through the summer, along with two changes of clothes in a wicker suitcase. For entertainment he carried an autograph book and click pen to break the ice with fellow travelers.

Donal was bound for a place he had never heard of to spend the summer with his grandmother’s sister, whom he had never met. He tried to talk his way out of the inevitable, and he was a good talker, but his grandmother and sole guardian was scheduled for cancer surgery with an uncertain outcome. It was either Aunt Kate and Uncle Herman, or foster care. And, if worse came to worst, an orphanage. So Aunt Kate and Uncle Herman it was. 

"Doig has left a final treasure with LAST BUS TO WISDOM, which is funny, even hilarious at times. His genius lied in mixing history while evoking nostalgia without schmaltz. He created fully rounded characters and delivered vibrant descriptions of a time and place in America’s recent history."

With his shock of bright red hair, freckles and a gift of gab with which he stretches the truth to fit the occasion, Donal gathers a few pithy sayings from fellow travelers in his autograph book as he makes his adventure-filled way 1,500 miles across the middle of America. On arrival, he hits it off with Uncle Herman, but Aunt Kate doesn’t take much to kids, especially rambunctious 11-year-old boys. Donal’s vocabulary is laced with colorful lingo picked up from the bunkhouse cowboys his Gram cooked for on the Montana ranch. This doesn’t go over so well with Aunt Kate and her book club.

Only one month into his stay, Aunt Kate bundles Donal back on the “dog” bus to Gros Ventre and the uncertain fate that awaits him. He is surprised to be joined by Uncle Herman, who says he’s always wanted to see the west, but turns out to be ducking the law. If Donal thought the ride to Wisconsin was an adventure, the ride back west will be a trip he will never forget. 

Ivan Doig, who passed away in April 2015, has been touted as one of the last remaining great western storytellers. His legacy of western lore and literature includes the bestselling THE BARTENDER’S TALE and DANCING AT THE RASCAL FAIR, along with the award-winning nonfiction titles HEART EARTH and THIS HOUSE OF SKY. Doig has left a final treasure with LAST BUS TO WISDOM, which is funny, even hilarious at times. His genius lied in mixing history while evoking nostalgia without schmaltz. He created fully rounded characters and delivered vibrant descriptions of a time and place in America’s recent history. This is a book to be treasured.