M. M. Justus

Our dear friend, fellow author, and NIWA member Meg Justus left us peacefully today Nov. 22, 2017 at 11:00 am PST.

OBITUARY:
Meg (Mary Margaret) Justus

Born 1959   -  Death:  Nov 22, 2017

Meg died from metastatic cancer in Lacey, Washington.

Meg was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She grew up in suburban Los Angeles, Denver, and the California Bay Area. As an adult she also lived in Oregon, Indiana, Ohio, and Montana before finally landing in Washington state at age 34.

Meg graduated cum laude with a degree in British and American literature and history from Ohio University in 1990, then completed a master’s degree in library science at Indiana University in 1991. Later in life she also completed a certificate in museum studies from the University of Washington.

Meg held many jobs pre-library school, from music school secretary to hog farm bookkeeper. A volunteer position at the her local library eventually led to library school, and she worked as a librarian for fourteen years, when she switched to museum curation for five years.

But Meg’s true passions were writing and travel. She published a number of books under the moniker M.M. Justus. She liked to say what she wrote was 90% history and 10% fantasy, set in the Old West. Due to her background she was a stickler about getting the history right, and her books were set in places she’d traveled to herself. Her travels included two long trips of multiple months each; the first was documented in the travel memoir Cross-Country.

She liked to call herself a professional dilettante. Her other passions included quilting and other needlework, gardening, meteorology, and wild plant identification, especially wildflowers.

SOJOURN
A TALE OF THE UNEARTHLY NORTHWEST - BOOK 1

REUNION
A TALE OF THE UNEARTHLY NORTHWEST - BOOK 2

NEW YEAR'S EVE IN CONCONULLY
A SHORT TALE OF THE UNEARTHLY NORTHWEST

REPEATING HISTORY
A TIME IN YELLOWSTONE - BOOK 1

TRUE GOLD
A TIME IN YELLOWSTONE - BOOK 2

FINDING HOME
A TIME IN YELLOWSTONE - BOOK 3

HOMESICK
A TIME IN YELLOWSTONE - BOOK 4

MUCH ADO IN MONTANA

CROSS-COUNTRY
ADVENTURES ALONE ACROSS AMERICA AND BACK