Samuel “Baker of the Nile”

Samuel “Baker of the Nile”

In autumn 1858, on a beautiful day in the Scottish Highlands, a remarkable sporting feat that would be recounted innumerable times until passing into legend, occurred.  During dinner the previous evening at the Duke of Atholl’s estate, Sam Baker, recently returned to...
The Short, Dangerous Life of Paul Rainey

The Short, Dangerous Life of Paul Rainey

He had it all – money, education and looks – along with an obsession for danger that would get another man killed.  He was a millionaire, Arctic explorer, big game hunter and movie producer – a man who was larger than life in everything that he did. Born September 18,...
At Home on the Range

At Home on the Range

The scud stacked up over the northeast, a gray washboard above the sea, to the horizon and beyond. Too late for a hurricane, but the wind didn’t care. Raindrops big as dimes on roofing tin and window glass, a racket like the devil beating some hellish rhythm on a...
A Man-Killing Bear and Revenge

A Man-Killing Bear and Revenge

Shocked and angered by his friend’s horrible death, the old trapper was determined to get revenge. Almost every trapper past middle age who has spent his life in the wilderness has stories to tell about exceptionally savage bears. One of these stories was told in my...
Hybrid Striped Bass Fight Hard But Taste Delicious

Hybrid Striped Bass Fight Hard But Taste Delicious

Fishing with longtime striper and hybrid guide Chip Hamilton on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell, we were primed to get our fishing strings stretched by these powerful fish. Getting three outdoor writers on the same boat, and all in accord on the singular objective of...
The Lords Of Loafers Glory

The Lords Of Loafers Glory

During the middle of the past century, it was commonplace for old men, maybe a smattering of somewhat younger n’er-do-wells and boys to congregate in popular gathering places. In small towns and rural crossroads, those spots were almost always a country store,...