The Secret Lives of Fishermen is Jim Dean's second book of essays celebrating wild places, rural traditions, and the pleasures and often humorous frustrations of fishing, hunting, hiking, and camping--or, as Dean might put it, ""messing around"" outdoors. It combines essays originally published in his monthly ""Our Natural Heritage"" column in Wildlife in North Carolina with longer pieces that appeared in other magazines. These forty-six engaging essays are arranged in a loose chronicle of the sporting year, but they seldom follow predictable routes. From a whimsical story about discovering live wood ducks in a cabin stove to a poignant memoir of summers spent in a remote riverside shack, all of the pieces are bound by a conviction that our resources and time are limited and our finest memories are shared. The title notwithstanding, not all of the essays in The Secret Lives of Fishermen are about fishing, nor are readers likely to discover any shocking secrets--unless they are surprised to learn that fishermen and hunters have myriad interests and seldom measure success by the number of fish caught or game bagged.

Jim Dean, longtime editor of Wildlife in North Carolina , offers his personal observations on the pleasures and frustrations of hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor pursuits. Dogs That Point, Fish That Bite draws together fifty of the best columns that Dean has written for the magazine over the last seventeen years. The witty, sometimes poignant pieces are arranged into a loose chronicle of the sporting year, with a generous allowance for digression: the first is set in April, on the opening day of trout season, and the last tells of a New Year's Day spent alone in a mountain cabin. At first glance, hunting and fishing are the focus of most of the columns. Often, however, Dean is after bigger game. A crab that escapes the pot leads him to reflect on the capricious nature of life. The restoration of a cabin at the old family farm evokes memories of family and simpler times. And a May panfishing trip takes on the quality of ritual, performed by two old friends. The consistent theme uniting all the essays is the celebration of wild places and rural traditions that have become endangered in our modern world. |Fifty outdoor essays by Jim Dean, the longtime editor of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine and a noted outdoor writer and photographer. Here Dean shares his personal observations on the pleasures and frustrations of hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor pursuits.