doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Peter Hathaway Capstick

I agree with the point you make, Larry: writers should strive from the evidence to get it right. Where facts are in dispute you say so. No one wants to err. You may offer an opinion weighted from decades of experience. Readers expect it from those of demonstrated competence over the years.

The integrity of your contributions is familiar from my 10 years on the board. You report from producible evidence, your experience, more a journalistic narrative than the story-telling of Corbett, Capstick and Bell. Their genre is first-person nonfiction without a way to confirm veracity.

Your reporting differs from storytelling. A cottage on our property is the birthplace of the legendary Jim Bowie, according to the local historical society. It is not although strong circumstantial evidence suggests Scottish cousins, one who remained in the US and the other loyal to the Crown.

Martha Gellhorn's reporting is more interesting to me than Hemingway's storytelling (and he of the famous turtleneck portrait hanging from the wall eight feet behind me, Karsh's print No. 2). When they covered the same stories there was truth in Gellhorn.

I think readers cut a lot of slack for our hunting storytellers. That's what I was referring to, the storytelling. Their job is to entertain with stories of their and others' experiences. Do we care if it took two or three shots to bring the monster down, or that an arm was torn off a porter instead of his head?

For Hemingway fans, there's a terrific book by the Canadian Christopher Ondaatje, "Hemingway in Africa: The Last Safari" (2004). Ondaatje is brother of Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient.

The porter probably cares.

Although I enjoy Hemingway as a writer, the real adventurer in the family was his son Jack. Behind the lines in occupied France in WWII with the OSS. Later, one of the first Green Berets (before Kennedy gave them their unique headgear). And he wrote a pretty good memoir. The line I remember is when he stated that he was fated to be the son of a famous father, and a father of famous daughters. He wrote some hunting and fishing articles for Field & Stream.

Just finished re-reading "Kill Or Be Killed" by W. Robert Foran. It is part of the "Capstick Library Series", which I am fortunate enough to have collected all 14 of the books in this series. As I stated earlier, I am a huge fan of Capstick's writings. I pieced together all of his books and the Library Series books while deployed to Iraq in 2005. I bought them all through Amazon in varying conditions from new to very good. These books were all a joy to read and helped pass the little bit of free time that was available. I have greatly enjoyed the books by his favorite authors that his publishing company released in the library series. This has led to further purchases of books written about the great and brave men who hunted and explored the dark continent in the late 1800's and early 1900's. There are some fabulous history lessons contained within those pages.

My 9yo son has now started to read these books and he finds them just as fascinating. They are full of history lessons that he would never receive in his regular studies in school.

I have yet to make it to Africa to hunt, but it is definitely on my bucket list. I plan to take my son on a hunt for his high school graduation present. PHC is the driving force behind this desire to go.

All said, they are great books about a sport and lifestyle many of us dream of living some day.

As an aside, I was treated to a wonderful birthday gift a few years ago from my grandmother. She sent me a 1st Edition 1910, leather bound copy of Roosevelt's "African Game Trails" that is in excellent condition. She picked it up at her church yard sale for 50 cents.

Your son is getting an education. At the same age, in a fishing village with my father overseas flying a bomber, I read every book in his library whether I understood them or not. I think of it now as a special kind of scholarship.

Reminds me of the film Derrida in which the great one was asked if he had read every book in his voluminous library. "Oh, no. Only four of them," he replied. "But those four very, very carefully." Apparently slow reading is a true mark of knowledge.

The results of your son's reading will be very satisfactory.

King,

His favorite book thus far is "The Old Man and The Boy" by Ruark. I used to make him read at least 30 minutes every evening before bedtime. He soon began to enjoy reading as much as I do and I often find him reading in the evenings without any prodding. During his Christmas Break from school this year he decided to read John Browning's biography. I received a call from his teacher when she looked at his reading log and saw the title "John M. Browning: American Gunmaker".

Conformation that you are raising him right!

We read mostly for pleasure. Capstick, Ruark, Corbett, J. A. Hunter, (who it seems, had more close calls than Capstick) the irascible O'Connor,and even "the always larger than life" Elmer Keith have provided me with a great deal of pleasure over the years. As a former English teacher, my choice as the top wordsmith of all the outdoor/gun writers is Jack O'Connor, and the writer with the most ability to convey the true meaning of hunting is Thomas McIntyre. Get a copy of his "Seasons and Days"...excellent.

"A good story is not necessarily a sequence of fact."
Can't remember the source of this.

And every good lie has an element of truth!