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About 50 people lined the aisles of the The Bookstore at the University of Montana on Wednesday to hear both the author and the subject of “Blue Man in a Red State,” the new book highlighting Gov. Brian Schweitzer's nontraditional rise to power, his unorthodox energy ideas and his personal ties to the state and its people.

Schweitzer and author Greg Lemon, along with former U.S. Rep. Pat Williams, who wrote the foreword, all were on hand to talk about the book.

One of them, though, expressed some reluctance.

“Think about it,” Schweitzer said. “Somebody shows up and they say they want to write a book about you. I like talking about other things and other people. I don't like talking about myself.”

To be more accurate, Schweitzer likes talking about his ideas more than about himself.

And, as the book shows, it's hard to separate the ideas from the idea-makers these days.

When asked if there was something Lemon would have liked to include in the book, he said he would have loved to have interviewed Schweitzer's childhood friends, his 4-H pals and the people who influenced him early on.

Asked if there was something he wished could be changed about the book, Schweitzer said he would have liked to have had more about his ideas and less about himself.

Lemon, a former reporter at the Ravalli Republic and the current political editor at NewWest, read from a chapter about how Schweitzer became a politician.

“It's kind of weird to be writing about you when you're sitting right here,” Lemon told Schweitzer.

The crowd engaged the governor and others in a discussion that extended from energy to Native affairs to education.

Jordann Lankford, who is studying education and history at the University of Montana, asked the governor why she should stay in Montana and become a teacher - when her student loans will be difficult to repay.

The answer - help with loan repayment for those who teach in rural areas - was more about ideas than about who the governor is, though his upbringing in Geyser influenced his interest in helping Montana school teachers.

“I wanted to come because my grandpa gets really excited about Schweitzer,” said Lankford, 19, while clutching a copy of the book that she hoped to have signed after the event. “He's not so affiliated with a party as he is with the people.”

And while you won't see many governors signing books about themselves alongside the authors, the new Western populism doesn't separate the ideas from the idea-makers.

“I did have fun writing this book,” Lemon told the crowd. “I had a subject who kept coming up with new material all the time.”

Reporter Timothy Alex Akimoff can be reached at 523-5246 or at tim.akimoff@missoulian.com.

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