I grew up in Pennsylvania reading the hunting magazines of the day and in my mind Outdoor Life was the cream of the crop and JOC was "the King" of the writers. Warren Page of Field & Stream was OK and Pete Brown of Sports Afield was a distant third.

I liked JOC because he took me, thru his writing, to see places and meet people that expanded my universe beyond what I could see from my back-porch...none of the others did this nearly as well or even came close.

I must say the other most enjoyable parts of the magazines were the monthly stories about "The Old Man & Boy" and "The Lower Forty"......and Ruark did give me my first taste of Africa and lit the fire that burned for almost 45 years until I shot my leopard....I wish I could thank him personally.

Thanks, mho.

The fact the JOC was probably the best writer of them all is hard to argue. He was funny but most importantly, made you feel as if you were there.

He also never started two stories the same way, something I really like. Some writers (think Capstick) always wrote with the same style.

I remember a trivia question a few years ago where JOC was the first person ever to dunk in a professional basketball game. I never knew he played basketball. Can anyone else confirm this?

Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe (present Arizona State University)fall of 1921; completed the two year degree program in 1923.

Transferred to the University of Arizona for the 1923-1924 academic year.

Transferred again and completed bachelor of arts degree at the University of Arkansas in 1925.

Finished a masters degree from the University of Missouri after two years of graduate work.

Got first teaching job as an associate professor of English at Sul Ross College in Alpine, Texas.

Assistant professor of English and public relations officer atArizona State Teachers College in 1931.

University of Arizona; university's first associate professor of journalism in 1934. Remained at the U of A until 1945.

Jack O'Connor Biographical Sketch

Tsquare2 - I wish to add my thanks for your positive response to the posting of your articles within the "Nickudu Files". It was a pleasure corresponding with you.



ALL - I'm nearly ready to post the first, of a series of articles, in tribute to Jack O'Connor. I do hope reaction to it will be as enjoyable, as has been this thread.

My favorite JOC book is boomtown. I own two copies of boomtown, a first ed hard back and a soft cover. My second favorite is Horse and buggy west. I would love to find conquest. Ron

There was another outdoor writer of the same era as JOC who in some ways was similar in writing style and was a great teacher to me as a young fisherman. That was Jason Lucas, the fishing editor of Sports Afield. He was very straightforward, opinionated, and a bit sarcastic. He thoroughly disliked northern pike being called "Northerns" and went into some detail over erroneous names of fish. In his articles his personality came across much like JOC's. I know I am moving off thread and apologize for that but I just had to throw his name out there. He never developed to the level of JOC as a writer but was similar in many ways - at least to me anyway. Any fishermans around? Merg

I think the two JOC things that stick in my mind are his comment about his shooting ability at long range and what numbert of shots that should be considered to measure accuracy of a rifle.
In the first he sid' people talk about my ability to take game at long range. What ai say is that I always use a reast and between my pack and my hat there is always a rock I can use for a rest or a convenient tree.'

He discussed the various groups used to maeasure accuracy like 3,4,5,10 shots . . . he concluded by saying that, '5 one shot groups taken on different days was the way to measure the accuracy of a hunting rifle . . . after all only the first shot counts when hunting game.'

Someone mentioned his personal "quirks", I would bet that most of his day and today have their own, both good and bad!

Blue:

You did not offend me. In fact, I thought your comments were fair. I just responded with an attempt at humor and I guess I should leave that to old Cactus Jack. There will be a new book by the way, due out in May I believe.

Customstox: Thanks for the backing and your kind words. As I said above, I didn't take offense with Blue at all, I was just trying to be a bit humorous. You are correct that I've been mostly out of the loop since early July. I've not been home most of that time due to a bunch of family illnesses that I've been dealing with back in KY. I'm back now though and should be for the foreseeable future. I read on another forum or thread or someplace that you won't be at the Guild show in January. Sorry to hear that although I won't be at the show either. The dual scheduling between SCI, the Guilds and SHOT has screwed everything up again. I'll get two days at SCI then fly to Vegas on Friday for the remainder of SHOT.

I wish everyone a very happy, healthy and properous 2005.

Tom

I think one of the things I appreciate most about O'Connor's writing is its precision. He refers to that premise in The Last Book. If you refer to Mule Deer as "Muleys", would you also refer to Moose as "Moosies"? Or the oft-used Remmies, Winnies, Argies, Maggies, and a host of other nicknames for manufacturers and models. I believe the accurate, precise descriptions better stand the test of time.

I enjoy reading the works of the past outdoor writers. My misspent youth.....particularly in the areas of interest and pocketbook.....didn't keep me in close contact with all the good outdoor writers of yesterday. Fortunately, much of this work is still available......either in original form or in reprint.

I'm currently on a Russell Annabel kick. I wasn't much of a Sports Afield reader in my youth.

GV

Blue:

Don't know why anyone would consider me a troll - in fact, I'm not even sure what a troll is.

Anyway, I'm an outdoor writer and have been for more than thirty years now. I have always been a big fan of O'Connor's writings and have found that his experience as he related it in his prose tracks pretty much precisely with mine although my experience is pale by comparison with his.

I have written a number of stories on O'Connor, the last two being one in Safari Magazine and previous to that, another in RifleShooter Magazine. I have all of O'Connor's books I think, with the exception of his two novels, Boomtown and Conquest. Many of Jack's friends were/are friends of mine and I have had extensive conversations with them concerning Jack.

My knowledge of O'Connor is second-hand, but from excellent sources.

If I am a troll, I am unaware of it.

Tom

Passion for the hunt has not waned over my 58 years, with Jack O'Connor providing the greatest literary influence on that passion, by a country mile. To my mind and heart, all else is secondary. "Never look a gift horse in the mouth"

I'll second that.

To All:

Alas, I never had the opportunity to meet Jack O'Connor but I have spent considerable time with several fellows that knew him very well - most notably Al Biesen, Jim Wilkinson and Roy Dunlap (who was Jack's neighbor in Tucson) from the old days and Buck Buckner as well as Henry Kaufman, probably Jack's two best friends toward the end of his life. Buck and Henry own many of Jack's rifles.

I met Bob Anderson once briefly but we did not have a chance to discuss the book he wrote. Buck Buckner contributed substantially to the book and I have discussed it somewhat with him. Personally, I enjoyed the book a great deal although it wasn't exactly what I had expected.

I truly enjoyed The Last Book and reread it usually about every six months or so.

Most of the people that met Jack late in his career came away with the feeling that he was a snob, arrogant and self centered, and irascible as hell. Perhaps he was, I don't know as I've already stated, I never met him. His friends, however, have a different impression of him. I suppose both are correct.

I have copies of a lot of his correspondence with Al Biesen, Jim Wilkinson and John Jobson. In these letters to friends, he is warm, caring and friendly to a fault. He is also quite humorous. As these letters were obviously not intended for public reading, some of his comments were quite telling!

As is usually the case with all personalities at the top of their profession, they walk around with a bullseye on their back, the subject of much sniping and petty jealousy. The feud between O'Connor and Keith is legend although it seems to me that old Elmer feuded with Jack far more than the reverse.

Jack enjoyed the "dew of Scotland" as well as the next fellow, but didn't have a "drinking problem" as such. Eleanor, unfortunately, did.

One can think what they will about Cactus Jack, but there is one point that is almost unarguable. That is he was our best outdoor scribe then, and no one has, at least in my opinon, come close to him since.

Tsquare

Blue,
Tsquare, aka Tom Turpin, has been a respected member of these forums for some time. I have not seen any posts of his for quite a while and imagine he had to reregister because his nickname on here has not always had the 2 behind it. I know him personally having met him and spoken with him at a number of ACGG shows in Reno. He and I are not close friends but he has the kind of personality and the character that would make him a memorable and valued friend.

Now I am sure that you will not take my word for it and he may have to resort to some kind of DNA test that will fulfill your legal scrutiny. I am also certain that he will politely decline any proof to you in the area of a positive ID.

I welcome him back, you can do as you wish.

Although I'm sure that "Tsquare2" doesn't need any help in having any one defend him from accusations of being a "troll", I for one consider myself fortunate to have him join us.

Definitely not a troll

Jack's "Last Book", especially the "Big Bore Boys" chapter is must reading. I also think that Jack's interpretations of Elmer Keith was not only extremely accurate, but reveal a lot of ugly truths that a lot of Keith fans don't want to face up to even today.

As a sidenote, I've always found it odd that the only person who ever gave Elmer Keith credit for the design of the pre-64 Model 70 was Elmer Keith himself and those few who are dumb enough to take his word for it. By the time that Elmer Keith revealed to the world that he and a couple of his buddies from Idaho furnished the Model 70 design to Winchester, his design cohorts were long gone, as were the Winchester executives in charge at the time. Even two carefully researched Model 70 books failed to turn up one solitary shred of evidence that Keith had ANYTHING to do with the design of the Model 70.

I shouldn't get myself started on Keith......

AD