Pete Fromm

1
Pete Fromm

• 1958 -
• American Author

Power Point by Haley Case
2
Published Books

• The Tall Uncut (Short Stories), 1992
• Indian Creek Chronicles a Winter Alone in the
  Wilderness (memoir), 1993
• King of the Mountain (Short Stories), 1994
• Monkey Tag (Novel), 1994
• Dry Rain (Short Stories), 1997
• Blood Knot (Short Stories), 1998
• Night Swimming (Short Stories), 1999
• How All This Started (Novel), 2000
• As Cool As I Am (Novel), 2003

I couldnt find the cover art, or very much
information on the novel by Pete Fromm Monkey Tag
3
Indian Creek Chronicles a Winter Alone in the
Wilderness

The memoir, Indian Creek Chronicles a Winter
Alone in the Wilderness by Pete Fromm describes
Petes winter alone in the cold bitterroot
mountains on the Idaho Montana border. Pete takes
the job of guarding salmon eggs in the wilderness
during his college years to get away from school.
Pete realizes himself in this mental and physical
journey. Pete Fromm truly capture the essence of
the wilderness.
What I saw instead were bighorns. Almost tawny,
much lighter than deer, they grazed single file
into the wind away from me, the closest thirty
yards away. Two of them lifted their heads now
and then, checking below them before continuing
to graze. It was several seconds before the last
in line lifted his heavy head and peered down the
slope. Before dropping back to feed he glanced
over his shoulder. His gaze dropped dead on my
face.
4
How All This Started
The novel How All This Started by Pete Fromm
captures the struggle of a relationship of a boy
and his bipolar sister. Abilene has been training
Austin to pitch baseballs since Austin was
little. In the small Texas town Abilene has manic
depressive behaviors that is diagnosed as
bipolar. This is Austins and Abilenes struggle
to hold onto each other through times of
difficulty. Things like shooting sparrows and
baseball, that unite them when nothing else can.
Mom would hover around her whenever pill-time
loomed close. And with each big production you
could see Mom ease up, pull at her fingers less,
leave her hair alone even on the days Abilene
would then go sit in her truck to let the
chemicals hit. She didnt drive anywhere, just
slammed her meds and sat alone in her truck,
staring at our house.


And every day that Abilene stayed without
talking about the guns, without barreling off
into the desert to search for prey, I let myself
think keeping quiet was the right thing to so.
5
Night Swimming
The short stories collection Night Swimming by
Pete Fromm presents a variety of stories that
illustrate human struggle. A sons fantasy of his
mother in her youth. A journey to find a distant
father. A college drop out son comes home to live
with his mother and working father. These stories
and many others are in this intriguing book,
Night Swimming.
But just realizing what Im thinking, how goofy
it is, I have to raise a hand and wipe tears from
my cheeks. Maybe its only the wind, but Im
suddenly so afraid Ive finally become my
mother---my mind leap-frogging and whirling that
same way---I can barely see. I stagger on,
holding my hand out to brush the reeds, keeping
myself from wandering out too far, where the ice
might not be solid, where I might vanish from the
face of the earth.
6
Reading Log
The memoir, Indian Creek Chronicles a Winter
Alone in the Wilderness by Pete Fromm describes
Petes winter alone in the cold bitterroot
mountains on the Idaho Montana border. Pete takes
the job of guarding salmon eggs in the wilderness
during his college years to get away from school.
Pete realizes himself in this mental and physical
journey. Pete Fromm truly capture the essence of
the wilderness.
Id snow shoed eight miles, I began to peek
around every corner again, holding my breath
until another empty section of frozen road
stretched out before me. I get the sense that
Pete is anxious for something to happen. Pete is
anxious for his father and brothers safety.
T ? W In this book Pete finds himself in the
wilderness. When he goes back to civilization he
doesnt feel the same. I fell the same way but
not quite as intense. When I go camping and
backpacking I get attached to the outdoors.
However, I still enjoy the pleasures of
civilization.
Naugahyde A strong vinyl coated fabric,
imitation leather.
Indian Creek Chronicles a Winter Alone in the
Wilderness
184
The novel How All This Started by Pete Fromm
captures the struggle of a relationship of a boy
and his bipolar sister. Abilene has been training
Austin to pitch baseballs since Austin was
little. In the small Texas town Abilene has manic
depressive behaviors that is diagnosed as
bipolar. This is Austins and Abilenes struggle
to hold onto each other through times of
difficulty. Things like shooting sparrows and
baseball, that unite them when nothing else can.
Hearing the click of the phone hanging up I
slunk back to my room. Austin over heard a bad
phone conversation that he doesnt like. He
retreats to his room as an escape.
T ? S In this book Abilene injures her dad while
passing a baseball. When my mom played soccer
with me she injured herself. Although Abilene
injured her dad on purpose and my mom wasnt
injured on purpose the same message of parents
trying to keep up with their kids is there.
How All This Started
Caliche Area with sand and gravel
305
The short stories collection Night Swimming by
Pete Fromm presents a variety of stories that
illustrate human struggle. A sons fantasy of his
mother in her youth. A journey to find a distant
father. A college drop out son comes home to live
with his mother and working father. These stories
and many others are in this intriguing book,
Night Swimming.
T ? T One of the stories in this book is about
parents who are trying to have a baby. They cant
have one so they adopt. This is connected to the
book Marley Me. In the book, Jen and John are
trying to have a baby. Jens pregnancy fails.
They then try to have a baby again and they
succeed. This is different because in Marley Me
they dont adopt a child, they have one naturally.
She never once showed any interest in seeing our
home again. In this piece of text I see that Joe
still believes of the house as his home, and has
not moved on from the past. Whereas Jenny has
moved on to a new home and family, leaving her
little brother behind.
Night Swimming
Cyclamen A plant with heart shaped leaves
182
7
Style

• Pete Fromm writes in a very mature way. Pete
  uses mature topics and writes of strong human
  relationships. Because of the strong mental
  relationships and journeys in both his memoir,
  Indian Creek Chronicles a Winter Alone in the
  Wilderness, and in his fiction work, How All This
  Started, and his short stories, I conclude that
  Pete draws some of his inspiration and part of
  his writing style from his winter alone in the
  wilderness. Pete Fromm writes fluidly. Petes
  basic writing skills, his fluidity in his
  writing, and his plot and topics, together create
  Petes enticing writing style.

8
Recommendation

• I recommend Pete Fromms book to anyone who
  would like a challenging read. Pete writes of
  mature topics, so be prepared for a high level of
  powerful themes. Pete writes adult books, which
  is why the maturity level is high. Petes books
  are quality and I recommend them. I recommend
  starting with reading his memoir, Indian Creek
  Chronicles a Winter Alone in the Wilderness
  first, to begin to get a grip of his style. Of
  all of Petes books that I read, his novel, How
  All This Started had the most mature content.
  Petes books opened my eyes to more mature
  reading. Reading his books challenged me. I had
  to step out of my comfort zone to read his books,
  I recommend you to take that step as well.

9
Biography

• Pete Fromm was born September 29, 1958 in
  Milwaukee Wisconsin. Pete spent the rest of his
  youth in Wisconsin. Pete then went to the
  University of Montana for college, under a
  swimming scholarship. The swim team was cancelled
  a couple years into Petes college years, yet he
  still had the scholarship for the classes. In the
  winter of 1978 Pete took a job that required he
  spend seven months alone in the Selway-
  Bitterroot wilderness on the Idaho Montana border
  guarding salmon eggs. After his minter in the
  wilderness, Pete quickly finished up his college
  years, squeezing in credits. Pete was one credit
  short of graduating, so he took a night course
  creative writing. Pete learned to love writing in
  that one class. He graduated in 1981 with high
  honors. Pete graduated with a degree in wildlife
  biology. Pete then took a job in the national
  parks service. Pete continued writing about the
  outdoors. Pete was a river ranger in the Grand
  Tetons and Big Bend national park. In 1990 Pete
  began to write full time. He has written nine
  books along with other works that have been
  published in other ways. Pete has been published
  by Picador, Lyons Press, Scholastic, and John
  Daniel Company. Pete taught writing at Pacific
  University. Pete Fromm is now married and has two
  sons. Pete and his family live in Great Falls,
  Montana. Pete writes in the early morning in
  order to make time for is family and uses an idea
  file to organize his creativity.

10
Interview

• 1. Where did you grow up? Do you ever write about
  that area of the country?
• I grew up in Wisconsin, and have only used it in
  a few of my stories. More often, Im interested
  in areas Ive seen since then, or have lived in
  as an adult.
• 2. What did you study in college and how does
  that influence what you write about?
• I got a degree in wildlife biology, and my
  interest in the outdoors, nature, have influenced
  a lot of what I write, but so has almost
  everything Ive done.
• 3. Have you traveled very much and has that given
  you ideas about what to write?
• Yes, Ive traveled all over the U.S.,
  particularly the West. I used to hitchhike the
  West every winter, which not only showed me some
  less-traveled corners, but also introduced me to
  scads of unusual characters and their stories.
• 4. Are there any books that you have read, films
  that you have seen, or authors that have helped
  you with ideas for your writing?
• Im influenced by almost everything that comes my
  way. Ive very much liked short stories by Ron
  Carlson, Richard Bausch, Ethan Canin, and the
  classic guys, Hemingway, Steinbeck, all those
  Russians. I think the Irish novelist Roddy Doyle
  has shown me a ton about how to write in scene,
  to fully inhabit a character.
• 5. Where do you get your ideas for creating your
  characters?
• I guess I dont really know. All over. Stories
  start usually with something very small, a line
  of dialogue will pop into my head, or an image,
  sometimes part of a scene, and the characters
  develop with the action they find themselves in.
• 6. What things have inspired you to become a
  writer?
• I just love stories, love being able to watch
  them unfold, love being able to see a character
  come to life. Its very challenging work, but
  very engaging, in a way that nothing else Ive
  done ever has been.
• 7. Do you ever get writers block? If so, what do
  you do about it?

11
Interview Analysis

• Pete grew up in Wisconsin but he tends to
  write more about the new places hes been, rather
  than Wisconsin. Of the stories I read that Pete
  wrote, a lot of them took place in Montana. Pete
  writes more about his new home than his old home.
  I believe his degree in wildlife biology also
  influences the settings of his stories. In Petes
  stories, the landscape, and outdoors play a huge
  role in the theme of the story. Traveling,
  meeting new characters, and seeing new things has
  also influenced Pete in writing his stories.
  Different writers influence Pete in different
  ways. They also teach Pete how to improve in
  different ways. Pete often gets his ideas from
  random things, and the ideas just pop into his
  head. Pete loves to write because he gets to
  create characters and create an engaging story.
  Writers block doesnt happen to Pete. Pete just
  writes and lets his creativity flow. Petes
  advice is to read if you want to become a better
  writer. Pete doesnt have heroes, he admires
  certain writers, but does not think them heroic.

12
Conclusion

• I am glad that I chose Pete Fromm to do my
  author study on. Reading a different style of
  writing than my normal readings has really
  widened my perspective on literature. I now would
  like to read more different books to challenge
  myself. I enjoyed Petes books a lot. Part of the
  reason I chose Pete was because of the day he
  came to our school to talk about himself and his
  writing. I enjoyed Petes books and I hope you to
  will be able to enjoy his books as well,