Dreams of Duxbak Days
There’s wisdom aplenty in his words, and as I become increasingly long of tooth and sparse of hackle fond memories of youth’s halcyon days seem to grow in importance. That’s a common human trait and likely always will be. Most of these dreams of yester-youth are...
Women Writers On African Travel, Sport, And Adventure
Dubbed the “Dark Continent” by Victorian explorers who were fascinated by its geographical mysteries and incredible abundance of game, Africa has been the setting for a massive outpouring of literature of interest to sportsmen. The latter half of the 19th century on...
The Best of Robert Ruark
Anyone with so much as a passing acquaintance with sporting literature is familiar with Robert Chester Ruark. He is probably the best-loved and most widely read outdoor writer of this century. Certainly, Ruark’s timeless and immensely popular books The Old Man and the...
Robert Ruark: A Man of Startling Contrasts
Robert Ruark could be a tough and cruel rogue, but he was also considerate, fun-loving and generous to a fault.
Rowland Ward: Entrepreneur, Publisher, Big Game Guru and Taxidermist
Although the average big-game hunter may know little if anything about the life of an individual who was a man for all seasons in the world of Victorian and Edwardian sport, Rowland Ward, virtually everyone is aware of the long-running series of record books bearing...
America’s Greatest Gun Writers and Their Books
Gun writers are not a uniquely American phenomenon, but there’s little argument that collectively those who have been citizens of this country rank in a class by themselves. Sure, there have been some fine European scribes, especially British ones, who have written on...
Teller of Tranquil Tales: Colonel Harold P. Sheldon
We rejoice through Sheldon’s reminders in knowledge that so long as sportsmen can dream of field and stream there will be tales to enchant and endure. As this column is being written, we find ourselves in a situation where ample doses of serenity, common sense and...
Abel Chapman: Forgotten Hunting Writer and Conservationist
Many of the literary figures from the Victorian and Edwardian eras who hunted extensively in Africa and wrote about their experiences are virtual household names among today’s armchair adventurers. Foremost among them is Theodore Roosevelt, although obviously the...