Barbara C. Fifer ’69 passed away in June 2018, “having 70 revolutions around the sun,” says her obituary in the Missoulian.
Barbara C. Fifer
Fifer earned a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University.
She “became known as a writer on Lewis and Clark, Montana and Western History, as well as a respected editor of fiction and non-fiction, alike,” according to the article.
Tracking history became inspiration for her eighth-grade science fair project on Radiocarbon dating, for which she placed second in the state. An independent thinker, she was editor of her high school newspaper for Sidney (Ohio) Daily News. Then, continued for two more summers at SDN as an intern. She often credited Bill Amos of Amos Publishing with honing her professional writing skills. She graduated from Ohio University with a BA in creative writing in 1969. Later that year she married Cliff Rackley in Helena beginning her love for Montana. Vivian Palladin mentored her at Montana, the Magazine of Western History, where Barbara became Assistant Editor. An interval in Pennsylvania working at Bro-Dart taught her additional cataloging, indexing and layout skills.
But Montana persisted. She returned to Helena where she lived until the end of her life. She worked for Montana magazine, then, turned to freelance writing of more than 17 books.
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