Editor’s note: In honor of our 35th anniversary and to announce a major change at Sporting Classics, this issue’s debut will be announced by a special letter from our publisher, Duncan Grant.
Robert Ruark was dead.
Russell Annabel was dead.
Courteney Selous was dead.
Roland Clark, Charlie Russell, and Elmer Crowell were dead as well.
These great authors, artists, craftsmen — sportsmen — and dozens more like them, heros from the Golden Age of Hunting and Fishing, were all dead. And being forgotten.
Until 1981. That was the year Sporting Classics was founded, and the year we began to bring them back to life … or at least bring their works back to life.
Thirty-five years have passed since that morning on Henry Savage’s pond near Camden, South Carolina, when co-founder John Culler and I fished for bass and talked about launching Sporting Classics magazine, dreaming of what we thought it might become: a magazine; a publishing company devoted to resurrecting the people, the places, the collectibles, the classic stories of the past, while embracing the evolving future of hunting and fishing.
It’s taken 35 years, but during that time, the magazine and the company have become much more than John and I ever imagined.
If you read our publication regularly, I imagine that you love Sporting Classics and appreciate its mission to preserve “The Heritage, The Romance, The Art of Hunting & Fishing” just as much as I do. So, I thought you might like to know what the next 35 years are going to bring.
First, we’ll continue to take you hunting and fishing to the very best and most exciting places around the globe. Then, we’ll dig even deeper in our efforts to educate you about the great men and women from the past, those who’ve impacted the writing, the art, the crafts, and the literature of the outdoors.
Just as importantly, we’ll discover new writers, new artists, new crafts and craftsmen, new conservationists, and new places for sportsmen — and we’ll deliver these old and new classics to you in ever-better ways.
As part of that mission, we’re introducing a new magazine format that is more impressive than ever — bigger size, better paper, and more of what you want.
And we’ll continue to venture beyond the magazine rack.
We’ve known for years that a big part of publishing’s future lies in the instant gratification that digital provides. If you’re a subscriber to Sporting Classics Daily, you’ve seen the videos, read the dispatches, and followed the adventures of our writers and columnists. We love print. It has an astounding shelf life and will be here for a long time to come. But we also know that successful publishing is about great content, not about delivery methods.
We have even bigger plans for the next 35 years (many that we can’t yet mention). New ideas for the magazine, new ideas for books, products, and websites that will be even more fun to read and view, more useful and more exciting than ever.
It is our sincerest hope that you’ll come with us on this great adventure.
We think Ruark would be proud.
Duncan Grant,
Publisher
Featured in our enormous new issue are exciting stories from circus-great P.T. Barnum, excerpts from an upcoming Jim Carmichel book, and a fiction piece by Sporting Classics’ associate publisher/creative director, Ryan Stalvey.
Included in the issue are:
“Daring Exploits in Dangerous Lands,” by P.T. Barnum
Excerpts from Wild Beasts, Birds & Reptiles of the World.
“Blood Red Mackinaw,” by Ryan Stalvey
In 1954, thousands of hunters took to the north woods with hopes of bagging a buck. All, that is, but one, who had murder in mind.
“The $100,000 Russian Stag,” by Jim Carmichel
Stag hunting under the hammer and sickle of Soviet Communism.
“The Big 6th,” by Ron Spomer
The hippo kills more humans than any other African animal.
“Under a Gray-Blotted Sky,” by Matt Gindorff
In Bolivia, the wingshooting is surpassed only by the beauty of the region.
“A Leopard Hunter in Hollywood,” by Jameson Parker
Gerald McRaney has never hidden his true-life roles of hunter and sportsman.
“Tiger Hunting In Africa,” by William A. Douglass
There really are tigers in Africa — big, toothy, and almost as vicious.
“King Of The Hill,” by Chuck Wechsler
From high atop a Texas knoll, Greystone Castle’s hunters sally forth to pursue trophy whitetails, gamebirds, and exotic animals.
“Peter Principles,” by Todd Wilkinson
In different corners of South Africa’s Cape, Peter Gray and Peter Stewart are giving contemporary wildlife art a refreshing facelift.
“Hunting With The Maestro,” by Michael Altizer
He had been reading Jim Carmichel’s stories since he was a mere youth. And now they were here together, hunting bobwhite quail with as close a group of friends as he’d ever known.
“All Creatures Great & Small,” by Jameson Parker
This museum displays the best art of painters and sculptors from around the world.
Columns by: Mike Gaddis, John Seerey-Lester, Dwight Van Brunt, Bob McKinney, Robert Matthews, Ron Spomer, Todd Wilkinson, Todd Tanner, Tom Davis, Michael Altizer, Jameson Parker, and Jim Casada.
Subscribe today or pick up a copy at your local newsstand!
