Mark Cortner, RIP

As of now, I have no idea what has happened to Mark; I just heard the news, and  was invited to his funeral at  the Community church. Mark came into our small town with a bang. Betsy and I first saw him crossing the Plains of St. Augustine hauling a trailer full of Barbados sheep.  …

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Farewell to Double Gun Journal

A few days ago, we received an announcement from Dan and Joanna Cote that they are discontinuing the Double Gun Journal. It went from 1989 to 2022.  When Daniel started it by he wan often reduced to selling off his own prints and his used firearms. It became a  major  success and was so  or many …

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Jonathan Kingdon has Parkinson’s.

Jonathan Kingdon has Parkinson’s. It would be awful enough right there, but he is 88 and so it is  running fast.  And since both his mother and father worked THROUGH their centenary years-!!–he feels he still has a lot to do.

Lord Rothchild’s Gun

A little while ago in the post about MacNaughtons I suggested I include a photo. Here it is, below. Lord Walter Rothschild was one of the richest men of his time, and the greatest bird collector, until he was forced to sell his collection (to the  AMNH) because he was being blackmailed by a mistress. …

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Rhyme

Trot trot covalotte Sous les pierres Jou [not right, but close] des mottes Buon Pung, buon ving Something, something , ( and no,  Dad , Karen , it wasn’t ‘Fart on the tackle!’);  covaling! I will give you this much: it i s  a trotting rhyme: you bounce your kid on your knee to its …

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A Ramble Through Some Obscure Influences

Everyone who reads this is likely to know my debts to classic writers on travel and  sport. ( Those who don’t could do worse than to read my book The Sportsman’s Library or my (eventually!) forthcoming  With Trees…) But here I would like to acknowledge a couple of writers from the worlds of genre, and …

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More Libby

Us                               And at our wedding