These selected stories of fishing, travel and safaris explore the dynamics of group behavior, male bonding and thoughts concerning the remaining wildernes in an era of changing values and environmental crisis. The central themes include friendships, responsibility, change, self-evaluation, and the constant influences of bodies of water on the author. Beginning with fishing trips in the 1980's and 90's, Grove drifts into the present as he recounts his travels from Canada and the USA to Zambia, Zanzibar, and continental Tanzania. Through a series of short stories he moves from the self assuredness of his early forties into personal assessments and ponderings of his early sixties. Personal observations, social comment, humor, bounded exaggeration and the crankiness of aging accompanied by travelogue, complement his observations and thoughts along the way.

Francis E. Miller began his memoirs at the age of 77, several years after his retirement. Born in 1909 in Belmont County, Ohio, his life spanned the 20th Century. At fifteen, he left Barnesville, Ohio for the big city, Canton, Ohio. His memoirs record his struggles and triumphs and provide insights into the times he experienced. This is the story of a not so common man, but a story similar to many of his generation. He wrote of his childhood, his lifelong fascination with automobiles, courtship, marriage, family, work and career experiences, his bout with throat cancer and subsequent laryngectomy, and finally retirement. His insights and experiences reflect the man he was and the nature of life in the 20th Century.