In northwest Iowa, along an old railroad track, three small towns bear names given them by a pioneer railroad president who was a wild-bird hunter. Curlew, Mallard and Plover are still there, barely. The name of a wading bird would be a perfect fictional name for a town, but author Tom Montag says there’s nothing fictional about it.
Montag says like many rural towns, Curlew is dwindling, one reason he wrote the memoir that’s now been published by Midday Moon Books.
He says it’s a piece of history that could be lost forever off the maps. In fact, Montag says he saw big changes when he visited a year ago.
Montag read from his book and signed copies at two Des Moines bookstores this week, part of a 39-stop tour of Iowa promoting the memoir. The public-radio program “Prairie Home Companion” has asked to put an excerpt of Montag’s book on its website. “Curlew:Home” is for sale at many Iowa bookstores.
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