http://www.starnewsonline.com/...ruark-link--in-india



Southport couple encounters Robert Ruark link ... in India

Saturday
Posted Jan 7, 2017 at 9:00 AM
Updated Jan 7, 2017 at 11:10 AM


Fred and Gloria Strickert traveled to rural India and uncover a connection to their hometown of Southport.

By Dean Blaine StarNews Correspondent


BRUNSWICK COUNTY -- When Fred and Gloria Strickert traveled to rural India recently as part of their Evangelical Lutheran Church exchange program, they never imagined that in a small village in the Indian countryside they would uncover a connection to their hometown of Southport.

For three months, the Strickerts volunteered at the Lutheran hospital in the tiny village of Padhar, a remote outpost situated not far from the setting for Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book.” Fred taught English to nursing students while Gloria assisted the local hospital chaplain.

They adjusted quickly to the challenges of living in a remote environment. That meant sleeping underneath mosquito nets, showering from buckets of water and going without technology mainstays like cellphone service, television, radio and reliable internet.

“Other people might find it unreasonable but we did not,” Gloria said.


When locals learned that the couple was from North Carolina, they told a story of a writer from North Carolina who was treated in the small hospital years ago. His name was Robert Ruark, they said, and they had the documentation to prove it. The Strickerts couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

The author Robert Ruark is a favorite son of Southport. He wrote his most famous novel, “The Old Man and the Boy,” about fishing with his grandfather in the waters surrounding the town. There’s a road named for Ruark in Southport and visitors to town often stay at the Robert Ruark Inn on Lord Street.

Ruark traveled the world, writing prolifically throughout the middle of the 20th Century, publishing true tales of adventure for popular men’s magazines. A favorite subject was big game hunting in Africa. It was hunting that brought the writer to India.

In 1962, Ruark was attacked by a leopard while hunting big cats in the jungle surrounding Padhar. After being treated for a mangled arm at the Lutheran hospital, the author wrote an article for the newspapers back home entitled, “Amazing Man-of-all-Skills Doctors Jungle Huntsman.” In the piece Ruark praised the hospital staff: “I came out of this mission with a fresh respect for the people who heal bodies and feed growing bellies before they tackle the soul,” he wrote.

The Strickerts came away from their trip with a similar admiration for the Padhar locals.

“It’s when you really experience the culture and really meet the people that you really experience the country,” Fred said. “Ruark got to know the people as we did.”

Thanks Kathi!

Enjoyed reading that.....Thanks