Kalispell Air Force veteran self-publishes new book

Kalispell resident James Turner recalls a 1972 family road trip in his debut novel, “Jimmy and Moe.”

Turner is self-publishing the book, which is now on sale on Amazon and at Bookworks in Whitefish. The author will also be selling and signing books Friday, May 5 from 5-8 p.m. at Flowers by Hansen in Kalispell.

In “Jimmy and Moe,” Turner tells the story of a road trip gone awry when the family’s beloved dog, Moe, goes missing in Boise, Idaho, a world away from the family’s home in Los Angeles. The book describes the days after Moe’s disappearance from both 13-year-old Jimmy’s point of view and that of Moe, as the two embark on separate adventures in the hopes of someday reuniting.

“It’s about homecoming and it was worth telling because it was just incredible how it seemed like the Hollywood-ish type story but yet it was all real,” Turner said. “I just thought that it was an exciting part of my life and I would put it down into words.”

Turner and his family moved to Lewistown when he started high school, and after college he joined the U.S. Air Force, serving for 10 years in Germany, Japan and domestically. Turner left the Air Force in 1995 and has made Kalispell his home ever since.