To me it scarcely seems possible, but this issue you're reading marks the sixth anniversary of "The Old Man and the Boy" - - seventy-two pieces without a missed deadline, although there have been some frighteningly near squeaks. Perhaps now my friends might like to join me in a sort of author's-eye view of what has been the pleasantest writing chore I ever took on.
About 180,000 printed words have been dredged out of boyhood trove of memories, the basic idea being that in an era of atomic power, zip guns and juvenile gang warfare something of excitement might be recalled from an ice age in which kids were given knives and guns as a reward for behaving themselves.
- - "The Smell of Christmas," Field and Stream magazine, December, 1958. As found in the book The Lost Classics of Robert Ruark.
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3 comments:
Robert R. was my favorite writer when I was in high school. It's not surprising that by the time I was 22, I made it over to Africa, hunting only with a camera though.
@Brigid: I've visited Southport, NC and environs, where Ruark grew up, and much of it is still in a wild state, although nowhere near as much as Ruark knew. The Old Man's house is now a Bed & Breakfast place, you should give it a try if you're ever in the area.
I simply adore Ruark! A copy of The Old Man And the Boy accompanies me everywhere, next to my bible. One of my prized possessions is a first printing, first edition. I am surprised that Brigid read it; the only women I know who have read it are second wives, like mine, who received the book from their husbands during courtship with the instructions "If you want to understand me, read this".
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