I just bought (for $35!) and have been reading Robert Anderson's biography of Jack O'Connor (Safari Press, 2002). I don't know what others have thought about this book, but I'm disappointed in it because it seems superficial to me and not sufficiently revealing of Jack's character. It's more like a list or summary of Jack's hunts and the people who accompanied him, with a list of his rifles and a timeline of his life, along with a large number of good photographs. I wanted a lot more.

I think a good biography should reveal as much as possible of the character of a person, either through self-disclosure or through first-hand accounts of people who knew the biographee well. We get far too little of that in this book, at least in my opinion.

The author says that Jack was a closed and mysterious person. But so was Richard Nixon, for example, and good biographies of him succeed in getting inside his psyche.

I haven't finished the book yet, and maybe it gets better toward the end. But based on what has been given so far, I doubt that it will happen.

Well, Jack was a very private man. I met him once a long time ago in NYC of all places. It would be very hard to write one in this case, since all of the close people in his life are either not talking or have passed on themselves. His son Bradford is sill alive as far as I know. Back in the Mid-90's he and I e-mailed notes back and forth for a while. This was from an old Compuserve Forum. All I really know of the man is by what he wrote, and well he wrote all to well. You want to know Jack, read what he wrote, even the couple of novels he pened. He has been gone for 27 years now. You want to know who Jack was, its Simple, he loved to Hunt sheep, the Model 70 and thought the 270 Winchester was a pretty good cartridge. Far as it goes he was a pretty good guy.

Read the same book but I guess I idolize the guy too much to be objective because I truly enjoyed reading about the times he lived in. His "style" of writing and liveing is what I miss most among todays authors.
Frank

Why??

I was greatly disappointed in that book as well. Disgusted might be a better word. It was written as if the author was in a rush to get it done, and he relied too much on the sources he used (not always accurate), while ignoring or not including others that were key and available.

Amoung other gripes, the author did not personally interview Jack's favorite post WWII rifemakers, Al Biesen and Earl Milliron. I know Milliron and have for years, plus I've read some of the letters O'Connor wrote him, and I've spent hours listening to his Jack O'Connor stories. In truth, Milliron built nine rifles for O'Connor, not the number quoted in the book.

I'm astounded that that these two master craftsmen were not interviewed, photographed, their documantation examined, etc., while they're still alive and available. This was an incomprehensible oversight, and a crime against history.

Nor was Jack's successor, Jim Carmichel, interviewed. Again, this is an absurd oversight, because Jim knew O'Connor very well and he is a wealth of information about the man.

AD

What did Jack know that was so valuable to the average hunter???

He teached the love of the chase to many, many people. Of course his English was excellent and he was the first to reveal hunting in such exotic places as Iran (then Persia) to the astonished eyes of his readers. I remember almost to the word that famous work "Buffaloes shoot back" of 1953. I learned about the 450 Watts, about Don Ker and Sid Downey and the Serengeti Plains.
Being a young lad of 9 years, after that never could stopping dreams of wild animals blacking the veld, of high mountains and white sheep...of so many things that make a big game hunter, even in a foreign and far country like Argentina.
Thanks Ole Jack!

I was very, very disappointed in the book as well. Not nearly the effort I expected from R. Anderson.

Canuck

[ 09-30-2003, 20:44: Message edited by: Canuck ]

I never read much that Jack wrote, simply because he was basiclly a sheep hunter,a persuit I've never been too interested in, and though the 270 Win is a fine cartridge, he simply seemed fixated on it. It seemed to me, he was almost high-centered, and hung up on that little .270 cartridge, and seemed to never write anything new. Actually the only things he wrote that I did read, were his accounts of his FEW African hunts, and then I enjoyed reading about his wife's exploits more than his.

I much prefered the writeings of Elgin Gates, who was also a sheep hunter, but was more flexable in his choice of cartridges, and animals he hunted, and wrote about, and unlike O'Connor, was not recoil shy.

I didn't buy the Biography of O'Connor for the same reasons. This is not to say he was not a fine man, if maybe a little 270 snobbish, it was just that he did not reflect my interests!

I agree with those who say a bio should reflect the person's personality,first, and foremost. If this book doesn't do that, then I'm glad it wasn't a book I wanted, because then I'd be as dissapointed, as O'Connor's fans seem to be!

Mac, I can tell that you truthfully haven't read much O'Connor, because you've trivialized and misjudged the width and breadth of his experiences in a big way. He used a number of cartridges extensively besides the .270 Win., and he wrote about them extensively as well. As a hunter, he was also much, much more than a dedicated sheep hunter.

If I remember right, O'Connor made at least fourteen African safaris, which is certainly more than "a few", and he made them during the real golden age of Post-WWII African hunting.

To me, Jack O'Connor was more than just a writer of interesting hunting stories. He was a highly gifted, superbly educated, intelligent, and logical man. His works provided a solid education in many things besides hunting.

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Ole Jack was probably the best there has been or ever will be. He greatly simplified such usually portrayed as complicated topics such as sighting-in a rifle, how to pull the trigger, etc., etc.

On the other hand, there was stuff I disagreed with. He made too much of recoil in an apparent attempt to immortalize the .270. I believed I was going to die from the recoil of the first 7mm Mag. I shot.

As near as I can recollect, he was typically not pimping some product or himself as is the usual stuff today.

Hey, what was the first thing you read when the new copy of Outdoor Life showed up in the mail?

I found the biography of Jack O'Connor a good read, but I enjoy reading his own books more. He was a unique individual.

JOC was everything Elmer Keith and most other writers wanted to be. He had the best job with the best magazine of the times. Shame this poor attempt at his life's story ever made it to print as it is severly lacking in many areas.

I'm only 23, but I still grew up reading Jack O'Connor. My dad had a couple of books by him and I've read them front to back many times. I especially liked his writing on Alaska--he shot a few grizzlies, and I don't think he used the 270. Even in his book rifles and shotguns he gives fairness to all calibers, in Big Game Animals of N.A. he mentions the 270 a great deal, but the 30-06, 300 magnum, etc. were never left out. The 270 was what he "preferred." I always love to hear the opinion of someone so experienced. Jack was a very good shot and could shoot a moose with a 270 without problems. Maybe it was his "subtle" way of showing that cartridge size takes a back seat to marksmanship, something that is all the more relevant in our "ultra mag" era. I think he'd be bored by all the new cartridges, and syn. stocks would probably make him woosy.
My first high-power rifle was a 270, unfortunately it was stolen.

O'Conner was a journalist. He wrote in clean, crisp sentences in an active voice, with no bullshit embellishment. If a .270 bullet did the job for him, it did the job for him. What else need be said? I was lucky enough to swap letters with him not long before that final ship cruise. Told him I hoped to hunt the world someday with a 7X57 ("Big Punch in Little Cartridge") and a .375. He agreed it was about the perfect set up.
Jack was the real deal. Screw all those phonies whose experience is testing factory rifles and ammo on the YO or NAIL Ranch in Texas on somebody else's dime, and getting pastered on company whiskey the night after.

In what may be of interest to some, I recently acquired a copy of O'Connor's Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns with the following inscription on the flyleaf:

For my pal John Jobson,

The most gifted and original guy in the outdoor writing racket!

His admirer!

Jack O'Connor

Also in the book was an envelope from O'Connor to Jobson dated Feb 4th, 1974, with the Outdoor Life return address scratched out and O'Connor's inserted (Box 382, Lewiston, Idaho 83501).

Hello;
I dunno about the book, I find biographies written years after the Man usually tend to fall short, since many of his compatriots are usually gone as well and memories fail. O'Connor and his ilk belonged to a different era, when a Hunting expedition involved more than a plane ride to an exotic destinaton, a quick kill and back home over a week.
I just got my hands on Harry Snyder's book of Big Game Hunting. {the old boy used to own a ranch west of Sundre] As well, I have a book by Jim Bond. These guys used to go for weeks or even months at a time, by every conceivable means of transport. The guys on the company ranches you talk about are just out there filling our want of immediate gratification. They aren't even in the same ball park.
Grizz

I started reading Jack when I was 14, ugh, that was 1956 when I started shooting a M70 Featherweight 30-06. While my dad and I hunted ducks in the Owens Valley, I learned about "Big Game" hunting by reading everything I could get my hands on by Jack O'Conner.

When Africa became a reality I bought a 416, one of his favorites.

I do not plan on reading the biography as I am still reading his original books.

I respect and admire Jack O'Connor. He was tough, intelligent, able and like any tough, intellingent and able person, he was justifiably opinionated.

I appreciate this review and the comments it has generated. (Where else can one find a review of a book on this kind of topic? Books of this kind--not this one in particular but the general, outdoor, hunting, shooting kind--are unfortunately ignored by critics, so we have to rely on word of mouth--or the internet.) I had seen notice of this biography and had thought about buying it. Having read your criticisms, I won't do that now.

The failings of this book, as described in this thread, are fatal to a good biography, which must be far more than a mere chronology to be satisfying.

Thanks again.

BTW, to change the topic to a good book and writer, I enjoyed Stephen Hunter's fictional portrayal of Jack O'Connor, Elmer Keith, Charlie Askins and other crusty old gun writers in his novel "Pale Horse Coming" and can recommend that book to all for a fun read.

Hunter is obviously a lifelong hunter and shooter and a hell of a good writer and storyteller to boot. I have read all of his novels and they are all fun for a fellow shooter to read.

[ 10-02-2003, 02:35: Message edited by: mrlexma ]

Jack used to teach English at Sul Ross College and I hunted with him a few times or tagged along with him and my dad...He was a straight shooter and told people like it was, he bordered on crotchity and he and Elanor could get into some good (funny) spats....

He was a world class hunter and one of the best shots I have ever seen, I don't think he ever missed..A great off hand shot and he was very influential in my chosen career...His good friend and fellow writer Lynn Mircle lives just down the road from me as we speak....

He wrote of many, many calibers and guns and everything he ever said had merit IMO...He was a hunters hunter...He loved and wrote about the 416 Rigby, 375, 7x57, 30-06, 257 Robts., 250 Savage, 7 Mag and a few others, can't be that lineup...

He was one of the very best gunscribes of all time IMO...He thought Keith was a clown and Keith actually dispised O'Connor...

O'Connor ruled the roost back then and for a long time. I know of no other that could compete with him in his heyday with Outdoor Life.....

As others have already said, Jack was in a class by himself when it came to putting thoughts and experiences on paper. It shouldn't be real surprising because after all he was a journalist and professor. While he wrote many, many interesting articles his life experiences were not as interesting to me as Elmer Keith and Bob Hagel who were really more "Blue collar" types than Jack was. Their types just appealed to me more than jack because not only were they hunters, but also guides during their life. They wrote more about the "Nuts and bolts" of shooting than Jack did it seemed to me. One look at the way they dressed compared to Jack tells a lot. This is not meant to demean Jack in any way, it's just his style was different.

No man was a stranger to Elmer and if you stopped by his house in Salmon he was very likely to invite you in for coffee. His wife Lorraine was also friendly as could be and had a tremendrous memory of people who stopped by more than once. Jack was a very private person as has been stated and if you were in Lewiston you just didn't plan on going to visit him because he valued his privacy to much. I have talked to a few folks who knew Jack and even they admit he could be "Prince charming" or be ready to tear into anyone around depending on the day.

As far as the newest biography of Jack I also found it a good read but as others have said not much of anything new. But hey, how much new is there left to write about. I think Jack pretty well covered most of what is interesting about his life and anything written today will be redundant. One thing for certain, a lot of people who make custom rifles today owe Jack a lot because he made it fashionable to hunt with them and not just have them for showpieces. I will always appreciate him for that.

Hagel, Keith, and he did the state of Idaho proud with all the information they put on paper for us to read. I still enjoy going back and ready it from time to time.