Former TF woman shares stories, recipes in memoir

Marilyn Stonehocker, formerly of Thompson Falls, had her first book published in 2022. It wasn't a lifelong plan. But it was her lifelong experiences that brought it together, including some of her popular recipes that include doughnuts.

Stonehocker started writing when she had to sit for 35 days in 2012 while in the cancer treatment center in Washington where her husband underwent a stem cell transplant. She couldn't leave due to contamination so Stonehocker decided to spend her time writing down childhood memories. One of the memories that ended up in her book involved her father and a bear. Stonehocker said that Fish and Game used the image of that bear on their bear tags. Several bear stories and others about her time growing up in Montana, along with her family recipes, were added in her book "Montana Me: Stories from a Life Outdoors" because those stories, she recalls, were written from her heart. The recipes are favorites that "many people are always asking me for," she noted.

Her home is currently in Missoula where she is originally from, but she has lived in Thompson Falls, Ronan, Charlo, Corvallis and Condon.

"Wish I had never left Thompson Falls," Stonehocker said.She and her husband Ron had a home in Thompson Falls from 1999 until 2018. She sold it and moved to Charlo, Montana, after Ron passed away.

Stonehocker's time in Thompson Falls allowed her to work at the Rimrock restaurant and learn how to cook for groups of people. Before going in the summers to East Glacier to work at the Bear Creek Guest Ranch as a camp cook, Stonehocker opened a flower shop in Thompson Falls called Mitzi's Floral. Later, Stonehocker said she did field editor work for the Montana fishing and hunting magazine "Montana Woods N Water." She worked for this publication in Plains. She has also submitted articles to "Bugle" magazine and has had articles published in the Seeley Lake newspaper.

Stonehocker said that she has a blog where "people from all over the world have heard about my book, bought it and liked it." Other true experiences, recipes and bear stories are in "Montana Me," published in 2022 by Sweet Grass Publishing in Helena. To increase sales and advertising, a website is in the works, she added.

The next project on her mind is also a true story about her time working at the Bear Creek Guest Ranch. Along with her exciting experiences as a camp cook, she has had some sad and horrifying experiences, Stonehocker recalls. But she will be glad to get them all down on paper and ready for publishing.

A portion of the sales from her first book go to the American Cancer Society, Stonehocker said. Some proceeds from her next book will be donated to the Traumatic Brain Injury Association. To purchase a copy of "Montana Me," call Stonehocker at (406)544-1868 and leave a message or email [email protected].