Daniel Kemmis grew up on a small farm in eastern Montana and was educated at Harvard University and the University of Montana Law School. He fulfilled his lifelong fascination with politics by serving in the Montana Legislature as Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives, and subsequently as the Mayor of Missoula.
Widely regarded as the Mountain West's leading contemporary thinker and writer on topics of human society and regionalism, Kemmis has written two books, Community and the Politics of Place and Good City and the Good Life. In addition to his books, he has written numerous articles for national magazines and journals, covering topics ranging from community building to Western states' politics.
In 1997, he received the Charles Frankel Prize, presented by President Clinton, for his outstanding contributions to the humanities and he was recognized in 1995 by the Utne Reader as one of "100 Visionaries."
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