Dear AR frends: About 25 years ago, I took a spring mushroom-hunting class here in Southern Oregon and one of my classmates was a fine old chap with a faintly British accent. His name was Clary Palmer-Wilson, and I believe he was born in Kenya and grew up as a professional hunter operating out of Dar es Salaam. Clary was not one to volunteer a whole lot, having the reserve of a gentleman, but when I told him how impressed I had been reading Hemingway's "Green Hills of Africa," he told me that he had run into Hemingway and his party once, that were all fairly intoxicated, and they wanted to know where Clary had found his client such a kudu.
He told me later that he left Kenya behind after watching Jomo Kenyatta's daughter and her cronies amass warehouses full of ivory after closing Kenya to sport hunting. He said what was happening to the Africa he loved had broken his heart, and he quit the continent and retired to Oregon. I can still hear the word "Selous" roll off his tongue out from under his white moustache while we searched the forest floor for morel mushrooms.
A Google search turns up a couple of tantalizing hits, but little else: That he guided a hunter named Cabrera to the No. 1 Rowland Ward buffalo, a cow with a 64-inch spread in 1946 or 1949 in Tanzania.
Anyone know any more about this PH?

I knew people that knew him, but never had the pleasure of crossing paths with him while he was active in the business. A "class act" and highly regarded from all I ever heard.

My father and two friends hunted on a three week safari with him in Tanganyika. It was a successful old-style safari. They shot a variety of plains game and even killed an elephant--with .300 Weatherbys.

The AR Forum is amazing! Without it, gems of history like this would never be discovered.

Real interesting thread!

Dak

There's a chapter on him in Brian Herne's book White Hunters

Quite an elephant and bufflo hunter.

Born in Nairobi in 1907, shot a .400 Jeffrey double.

Pursued an elephant known as the "Crown Prince" for almost 8 years (along with numerous other PHs of the period). Finally shot him and the tusks weighed 159 and 143 (much lighter than anyone had estimated).

When not guiding clients, he liked to hunt alone without any trackers.

Regards,

Terry

Thanks, Terry. I'll have to check out Herne. He was a real gent.