Remembrances

The Florida Championship or How I Became the Reporter

How was I ever so lucky As to end up the Reporter Of the Florida Open All-Age Championship? Me born a mountain boy sheep farmer? Luck pure Luck The main force in my life And I’ll bet in yours Some good some bad of course Read more

Hawfield

December 7, 2019 | Prose, Remembrances | Comments

Captain William Crenshaw’s Farm Until he died in 1897 In 1948 its 2760 acres lay abandoned Its antebellum manor burned Read more

Gunny

September 4, 2019 | Bird Dogs, Remembrances | Comments

Ask a professional trainer-handler of pointing dogs to name his best dog ever and you will likely get an ambiguous or evasive answer. Not so from Jim Heckert, who broke into the pro ranks long ago and has been at it ever since while also managing quail shooting plantations, including Wire Grass at Albany, Georgia for Thomas Vail of Cleveland Plain Dealer fame and currently Cedar Grove Plantation at Clarksville, Virginia for my friend Will Pannill. Read more

Remembered on D-Day 2019

June 13, 2019 | Prose, Remembrances | Comments

I remember today A night long ago At the N&W passenger depot At Cambria Virginia I was six years old it was 1944 I rode there with my father to visit His friend the Station Agent Read more

Farm Jobs I Did and Did Not Like

May 23, 2019 | Remembrances | Comments

My boyhood farm jobs started at age six with opening gates for my father to drive through in his 38 Chevy and spreading two-handful piles of salt at ten-foot intervals in hilltop pasture cow trails, then calling the stock in to savor it with, “Coo sheep, Coo, Soo Calf, Soo,” until they arrived on the run to lick the salt up and be counted and inspected. This job came every Sunday afternoon as my father, his friend Jack Atkinson, a fellow farmer and N&W Trainman, and I inspected the stock on both their farms. This job I loved. Read more

Ben

May 9, 2019 | Bird Dogs, Remembrances | Comments

Over six decades my heart has been owned by a series of bird dogs, all but one an English Setter. The one exception was Ben, an English (or American) Pointer. As I remember them all in reverie, Ben appears in my mental DVD again and again. He was talented, and handsome, and lovable, and happily memorable. Just bringing him up in my mind’s eye makes me want to hug him. Read more

Horse and Mule Tradin’ Stories

March 4, 2019 | Other Things, Remembrances | Comments

My friend Jim Heckert, Manager of Cedar Grove Plantation, Clarksville, Virginia, just gave me two really good books, Horse Tradin’ and More Horse Tradin’ by Ben K. Green DVM. The stories in them got me thinking about my heritage. My paternal grandfather, Harry McClanahan Word (1865-1944), was in his first career a successful farmer-livestock dealer, and my father (1897-1954) apprenticed under him. That’s where I got my love of all things agrarian. My grandfather Harry’s life story is filled with cautionary tales, the first being Stick With What You Know. Read more

2018 Montana Hunt with Jim Heckert

December 31, 2018 | Jim Heckert, Remembrances | Comments

These photos were taken while upland bird hunting near Choteau, Montana, east face of Rockies. In two days of hunting sharptails and Huns, we encountered five Grizzly Bears at uncomfortable range, a mother with three year-old cubs and a solo adult of unknown sex that eyed us from woods edge at a range of about 150 yards! Read more

Working Dog Owners Have Lost a Dear Friend

November 18, 2018 | Other Things, Remembrances | Comments

All working, herding, sporting, rescue and other dog devotees have lost a dear friend and fierce advocate. And I have lost a friend of a lifetime. That friend is Donald McCaig, author of Nob’s Trials, Rhett Butler’s People, and other great books about working dogs and Civil War history of impeccable literary quality and revealing of the author’s deep knowledge of things essential to a worthwhile life. Read more

Remembering the Quail Championship Invitational (1996 – 2006)

August 5, 2018 | Field Trials, Remembrances | Comments

Reading John Russell’s splendid new book, The Invitational Champions, has brought back precious memories of the eleven years it was my privilege to report the trial at Paducah. My invitation to report came from John after my first report of the Florida Championship in 1995. I had attended the trial at Paducah as a spectator briefly in 1993 when Silver Bullett won his second crown, no Runner-Up. Judging in 1996 were Marshall Loftin, Bill Perry and Dr. Dorwin Hawthorne, and they shared with me generously their impressions of performances, which I sorely needed in light of my limited experiences watching all-age dogs. Read more