My newest book, While There Were Still Wild Birds: A Personal History of Southern Quail Hunting, (Mercer University Press) will be released in May. I am both excited and scared. I have never written anything so personal--part of the book is a memoir--and putting myself out there for the reading public makes me nervous. But guess what, my book is going to be published soon whether the reading public likes it or not. I need to get over my fears and instead focus on the excitement of publication and sharing that good news with others. This blog begins that process.The best way I know to introduce you to my book is to let you read the opening and another passage from the preface. If it piques your interest then you may like my book.
This is a particular history of different groups of Southern quail hunters, dog trainers, and hunting guides. Some began as field trial competitors, others were strictly bird hunters, and one was a remarkable quail hunting woman. Three different hunt clubs are considered in great detail: the first in Kline, South Carolina, from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s; the second--and in greatest detail--the Quail Roost Hunt Club, its successor outside Manning, South Carolina, from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s; and the third, the Foreston Hunt Club, an adjoining neighbor in Foreston, South Carolina (near Manning), from the early 1940s to 2007. Many other Clarendon County bird hunters are studied and discussed in the later chapters. This book also deals with the disappearance of wild bird hunting in the mid 1980s, and how those of us who had hunted at the Quail Roost Hunt Club and elsewhere in Clarendon County adjusted…. As a whole, I hope this collection illuminates Southern bird hunting during the last decades of its golden age.
Here is the second section from the preface that reveals the personal nature of my book.
For me, this is highly personal story. It tells of my initiation into the adult world of bird hunting, the great hunting friendships formed, and my relationship, deepened by hunting, with my father. My reminiscences recall a rich cast of characters: some who preceded me, some of whom I had the privilege to hunt with at the Quail Roost Hunt Club, and some of whom I discovered while researching this book. My former hunting companions at the Quail Roost Hunt Club include four teenage friends who remain some of my closest friends today. I hope my tale captures the joy of bird hunting, the wonderful fellowship that develops between hunters, and the beauty of the encounter with the wild. My account also acknowledges my sense of loss over the end of wild bird hunting, how I responded to it, and how my identity as a bird hunter was ultimately renewed. Telling this story has been deeply moving, especially as it involves my father. Perhaps something enduring or eternal clings to such dear memories. I
hope so.
Sometime in May--date to be determined shortly--we will have the first reading and
signing for my new book in the library at Gaston Day. As a member of the Gaston Day
School community, you will be invited. If you are interested I hope you will attend. It
should be fun.
