Ruark Remembered: By the Man Who Knew Him Best [Hardcover]

Alan Ritchie (Author), Jim Casada (Editor), Harry Selby (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2007

Robert Ruark (1915-1965) ranks, in the minds of most discerning readers, as the finest outdoor writer ever to grace the American literary scene. His is an enduring fame, thanks primarily to three books, The Old Man and the Boy, The Old Man s Boy Grows Older, and an African classic, Horn of the Hunter. Of course, Ruark was also the author of several blockbuster novels, an immensely popular newspaper columnist, a satirist of considerable skill, and a tireless bon vivant. Fame and the ability to crunch out a prodigious amount of first-rate prose on his battered portable typewriter brought him considerable fortune. Now, some two generations after the Ruark s death, Sporting Classics will release a brand new book on the great author. Just recently discovered, the text was written more than forty years ago by Alan Ritchie, who faithfully served as Ruark s personal secretary and advisor for the last fourteen years of his life. The book starts out with a wonderful foreword by legendary African professional hunter Harry Selby who guided Ruark on a number of his safaris. It also features a number of photographs of Ruark that have never before appeared in any book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Casada is a veteran outdoor writer who has written, edited or contributed to more than forty books. He writes three newspaper columns each week and serves as a columnist for several magazines, including Sporting Classics, Mossy Oak s Hunting the Country, Turkey & Turkey Hunting and Predator Xtreme. His articles on turkey and deer hunting, fly fishing, sporting literature, natural history and game cookery regularly appear in national magazines. Together with his wife, Ann, he has written or been a major contributor to a number of cookbooks, including Wild Bounty, The Complete Venison Cookbook, Wild Fare & Wise Words, The Ultimate Venison Cookbook and Backyard Grilling.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Sporting Classics (November 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977855139
• ISBN-13: 978-0977855131
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #384,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by a Ruark Fan, May 30, 2011

By 

Aaron K. Adkins (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ruark Remembered: By the Man Who Knew Him Best (Hardcover)

I am a fan of Robert Ruark's writings. Seven years ago, I read "Horn of the Hunter" before embarking on an African hunting safari. I very much enjoyed the book and proceeded to read in rapid succession "Something of Value," "Uhuru," "Use Enough Gun," "Poor No More," "The Honey Badger," "The Old Man and the Boy," "Robert Ruark's Africa," "The Lost Classics" and "A View From a Tall Hill: Robert Ruark in Africa."

Many of Ruark's writings such as "Horn of the Hunter" are stories of his own hunts and experiences. And much of his fiction is semi-autobiographical, such as the main characters in "Poor No More" and "The Honey Badger." But one wonders to what extent Ruark has embellished. This book is great because the author, having worked as Ruark's secretary for twelve years, knew him well. This is a first hand account of Ruark's life including his great drive and his destructive faults.

The book "A View From a Tall Hill: Robert Ruark in Africa" is another recent biographical account, although it focuses mostly on Ruark's hunting and other adventures in Africa. It is also a good read for a Ruark fan. Its author, Terry Wieland is a hunter and gun aficionado, which gives him experience and insight that Ritchie does not have. But Wieland did not know Ruark, which is Ritchie's advantage. Both books are good and will be enjoyed by Ruark fans.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Ruark Fans, May 6, 2009

By 

Joel Jacobs (Formerly Milan and Naples Italy) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ruark Remembered: By the Man Who Knew Him Best (Hardcover)

If you're a Ruark fan this is a must read. It's one you'll read again and again as you gain insight into the character of the man - warts and all.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the one way, April 10, 2008

By 

John Wallingford "jack" (mantua) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ruark Remembered: By the Man Who Knew Him Best (Hardcover)

While Alan Ritchie is no Boswell, he does present a full picture of the man, Robert Ruark. Ruark appeared to be a man larger than life and the attempt to capture the full man, reduced from legend, to appear slightly tarnished, and still accurate, seems a bit contrived. We see Ruark as a nouveau riche, trying desperately to be cool, but full of the shortcomings of an alcholic. While he is interesting, he is not enviable, while he is a big game hunter and an American sportsman, he is an expatriate, concerned with Africa's letdowns to the sportsman, not her independence and freedom. And while he remains married for twenty five years or more, his marital relationship is fraught with holes, infidelities, mysognisim and endless battles. Ritchie's attempt to show the man's numrerous positive traits in this ambience of deception and contrast smacks of gloss, not of a hard shine. It is difficult for an employee who is grateful and subservient to display true objectivity to a boss who is more powerful and thankful for Ritchie's protecting his indescretions and foibles. If Ritchie felt compelled to cover things up in real life, he was even moreso in his employer's death. We beg to find out who was really the culprit in the gutting of the Spanish house, Ruark's mistresses, his wife, or Ruark's own attempt to sabotage his wife's future. He seems capable of anything against her. Ritchie's protection of her, is in essence a complete subservience, because while he owes her nothing, it is apparent he is completely sympathetic to her. And while sympathetic, he seems unable to reach an objectivity necessary to revealing her and her husband.
I feel as if Ritchie lifted a veil and showed us how this thing might be played out, but not the veil that shows the TV drama of how it actually was. Could it be his subservience, his British tightmouthed allegience, or something akin to closet homosexual worship that keeps his opinions and the truth so far from us.
As much as I respect the editor, I find it difficult to praise him as I always find spelling errors and other mishaps in his work. This book is no exception.