Bob Morgan still has a twinkle in his eye.

The artist and Montana icon has released a new book about his life and art, “Bob Morgan’s Montana.”

From his boyhood in the Helena Valley to his years of military service to his career as a prominent Western artist, the book chronicles “what went on way back when” in Morgan’s own words — and pictures.

The book will debut with a free public reception tonight from 5-7 p.m. at the Montana Historical Society.

“It’s a long story but I’ll make it short,” says Morgan, when asked about where the whole book idea got started.

Basically, he’ll tell you, his friend Norma Ashby made him do it.

Ashby, a Helena native and former Montana television personality, says she just helped her friend get going on a project that many others had been urging him to do for years.

“I feel like there’s a book in everyone,” Ashby says. “Especially a person like Bob.”

“He’s such a genuine person and he’s a Montanan through and through,” Ashby says.

At nearly 80 years old, Morgan is a little hard of hearing, but other than that, he’s sharp as a tack, ready with a good fishing story from when he was 13 or other reminiscences of the good ol’ days.

If you’re not lucky enough to spend a few hours with Morgan, his best memories are all in the book, which is generously populated with old photographs and, of course, images of Morgan’s art.

“It’s pretty complete,” Morgan says.

The artist says the process of recording his own history brought to mind stories he’d forgotten all about, like the time his dad hooked a shiny, fresh fish to the line his son always kept in the Prickly Pear River.

The young Morgan raced home and proudly showed off the beautiful fish to his parents. It was only later that he put two and two together, realizing that his dad was responsible for his magnificent “catch.”

“He was always doing things like that,” Morgan says with a chuckle.

A majority of the book’s glossy pages are devoted to Morgan’s well-loved images of nostalgic Montana scenes, many unique to his hometown of Helena.

His other muse has always been Montana’s landscape and history, as it was for his longtime idol, painter Charlie Russell.

Russell’s impact on Morgan figures prominently in the book, from his first introduction to the painter’s work at 5 years old, to his 40-year involvement with the annual C.M. Russell Auction in Great Falls.

Even today, Morgan loves to talk about Russell and can pretty much tell you everything about him: He was self-taught as an artist, a keen judge of character, a philosopher and all around “tremendous individual.”

“He was more than just a painter,” says Morgan, seated in the very chair that Russell himself used to sit in at the Mint Bar in Great Falls.

As for his paintings, Morgan says, “Anything he did was right on the money. You can read it; it’s just right.”

The same could be said of Morgan, who explains that over the years, he’s simply tried to make his next painting better than the last one.

Although his beloved landscape has undergone many changes over the years, when Morgan surveys the lakes and rivers and mountains he’s grown old with, he says he can still see parallels with history.

When asked if there’s anything positive that’s come as a result of the region’s dramatic growth, the best Morgan can come up with is that things haven’t changed in Montana as quickly as they have elsewhere.

“We’re still behind, but I’m not so sure that’s all bad,” says Morgan, quoting a favorite saying from Russell:

“You may lose a sweetheart, but you don’t forget.”

Reporter Emily Donahoe: 447-4083 or emily.donahoe@helenair.com