Morning Is Always Nigh: A Colorado Boyhood

Set amid the grandeur of the high Colorado Rockies and the gentle beauty of the Front Range, Morning Is Always Nigh describes a remarkable year of improbable adventures in the life of Danny Gray and his two older siblings, Mary and John. As the Gray kids come of age they save a trout named Fred, go jeeping in the mountains, explore ghost towns, hunt a cougar, fly fish for wild trout, encounter the mysterious ‘Strange Critter,’ rescue a soon-to-be mother in labor during a blizzard, and mostly live with abandon. Through their experiences – some harebrained, some harrowing, some touching, and all instructive – Danny comes to see that he has a role in the great majestic dance that is life. "In Morning Is Always Nigh, John Wickersham has described a childhood full of beauty and wonder where common experiences are elevated to adventures, and the mundane becomes an opportunity for learning and growth. There is such a sweetness about the story and its characters, and Wickersham's love of the land is evident on every page. The writing is erudite yet accessible, nostalgic without being over-sentimental, accurate and engaging. It is the work of someone who knows and loves the West, and is a marvelous read for anyone who enjoys tracking a boy's journey from childish curiosity to wisdom." Richard Opper, Director, Montana Department of Health and Human services. “As a philosopher, naturalist, photographer, and now a novelist, John Wickersham is unmatched in his ability to communicate the luminous, sacramental nature of the world. This talent is on display in Morning Is Always Nigh, a true delight.” G. Tracy Mehan, III, former Assistant Administrator for Water, US EPA. Morning Is Always Nigh is a lyrical evocation of a free-range childhood in 1950’s Colorado as experienced by the Gray kids, Danny, Mary, and John. The Colorado mountains, with their wildlife and abandoned mining camps, are as much characters as the three kids and their parents, providing moments of transcendent beauty and hair-raising danger in equal measure. This should find a place on the bookshelf alongside Norman Mclean’s A River Runs Through It and Annie Dillard’s An American Childhood. David Murray, Senior Writer, Waterways Journal.