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Ivan Doig, Writer Of The American West, Dies At 75

caption: Ivan Doig, the award-winning writer, most often wrote about his home state of Montana. He was 75 when he died on Thursday.
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Ivan Doig, the award-winning writer, most often wrote about his home state of Montana. He was 75 when he died on Thursday.
University of Washington Photo/Anil Kapahi

Award winning writer Ivan Doig died Thursday at his Seattle home. He was 75.

Doig was one of the most respected writers of the American West and often wrote about his native state of Montana.

He wrote 16 books, including the so-called McCaskill trilogy, three novels about a fictional Montana family covering the first 100 years of state history.

His 1979 memoir, "This House of Sky," was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Besides being a writer, he had a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington.

In an interview with KUOW in 2013, he talked about his love of learning about the past.

Doig: "History has within it that word story, and I have to keep reminding myself that I had one of my characters, a newspaper editor say in an earlier book, 'History has the best yarns.’ History tends to make up maybe more imaginative things it seems like, than maybe us poor writing wretches can."

Doig's publisher says he died of multiple myeloma.

He is survived by his wife Carol.

Copyright 2015 KUOW. All rights reserved. This may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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