Trad Gang
Main Boards => Trad History/Collecting => Topic started by: charles suttles on April 22, 2009, 09:17:00 PM
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Did Mr Bear author any books other than "THE ARCHERS BIBLE" [1968]? Mind just got to wandering tonight.
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I believe he also wrote Fred Bear's Field Notes.Pretty much a collection of his actual field notes he kept from many of his hunts with some extra info thrown in.Some nice pics too.
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He also wrote "Fred Bear's World of Archery"
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Charles, Mr. Bear is probably my favorite figure in archery and certainly in modern archery but-and I know I'm asking for a blasting- he didn't actually write these books as such; The Archer's Bible was mostly written by Charlie Kroll with input from Bear and ultimately signed off on by Bear. The "Bible" series included books on just about every outdoor activity and well known people within the given sport. It's a great guide to have and Bear and his ideas are obviously very present in the text but it was not penned by Bear alone or even mostly. The "Field Notes" were actually written by Fred's wife, Henrietta, from the information and narratives she edited from Mr. Bear's actual notebooks that he kept religiously while in the field. I couldn't comment on the "World of Archery" book but would have to assume that it is a compiled "group effort" considering the incredible amount of time involved with producing a book-especially at that time- pre-PC- and Mr. Bear's many other time consuming interests and committments. I am in no way devaluing these books or Mr. Bear's input or reputation; ghost writers are very often used. For instance, Dick Lattimer was heavily involved with Kroll's bio of Bear but is given no editorial credit in the final product. The best examples of Bear's writing is probably in the articles written in the late forties and early fifties for periodicals such as the ones that chronicle his hunts with Knick Knickerbocker for Moose and some of his pieces on equipment like the arrow article in "Ye Silvan Archer." He was a very good writer in his own right and much fun to read. I hope I haven't offended anyone by pointing this out; the last thing I want to do is slam Fred Bear. Grant
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I have read "Field Notes" and I found it a fantastic read regardless of who actually wrote it. The lion hunting story....I can't even imagine what that was like!
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I agree John- I feel sure that that episode and several others were pretty much verbatim from Mr. Bear's journal. Too much tension in that for it to have been edited very much by a third party- made you want to be there and happy you weren't, all at the same time. GY
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Wouldn't it be great if someone was able to assemble all of Fred's articles from over the years and make them available in book form.
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Snakeeater
Sounds like a challenge...one I hope someone takes up.