Hemingway's guns

[George Lander]

I had heard that William Faulkner and Shelby Foote were drinking buddies. I met Mr. Foote in Charleston, South Carolina not long before his death when he came to see Fort Sumter and Charleston for the first time. I asked him about his association with Faulkner and he cryptically responded: "I cannot clearly recall most of the times I spent with Bill and neither could he", but he was a dear friend.

Best Regards, George

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by George Lander

I had heard that William Faulkner and Shelby Foote were drinking buddies. I met Mr. Foote in Charleston, South Carolina not long before his death when he came to see Fort Sumter and Charleston for the first time. I asked him about his association with Faulkner and he cryptically responded: "I cannot clearly recall most of the times I spent with Bill and neither could he", but he was a dear friend.

Best Regards, George

One of my favorite things to do is to walk along the Battery, he raised slate sidewalk on top of the sea wall in Charleston on the way to the park of the same name. The Hunley crew is buried there. Great cemeteries in that town! Walking there in the summer gives one an excellent excuse to drink cold beer.

Didn't we all fall in love with Shelby Foote when we watched the Ken Burns Civil War series? What a wonderful chuckle the old sage had and then there was the ancient blind black women who recited the melancholy poem of the dying soldier! She was memorable too.

Foote loved the Old South and Faulkner was on the cusp of being part of it. Both men were acquainted with many CW vets. I was stationed in Meridian, Miss for three years and drove to Oxford often. I loved living in the South in the 60's. I wish today that I had bought every Parker that I ran across. Trojan's were cheap.

I'll bet those two guys could put away bourbon, copius like.

[Mills]

Maybe that is why you can't understand Faulkner. At the end of one of my favorite passages, when they are talking about sitting around the hunting lodge, he says "it seemed not only natural, but actually fitting, that this should have begun with whiskey." . . . That would be AFTER the hunt. This whole discussion has me wanting to read Hemingway's hunting stories. I didn't know he wrote hunting stories, until now

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Mills Morrison

Maybe that is why you can't understand Faulkner. At the end of one of my favorite passages, when they are talking about sitting around the hunting lodge, he says "it seemed not only natural, but actually fitting, that this should have begun with whiskey." . . . That would be AFTER the hunt. This whole discussion has me wanting to read Hemingway's hunting stories. I didn't know he wrote hunting stories, until now

Coupla months ago I re-read the Green Hills of Africa, written about HEM's first safari in '33/34, paid for by his wife's uncle. They scared up the old boy who PH'd TR and Kermit's safari in (I think) 1905/6.

I took my time with the work and enjoyed it. At the same time I read The Horn of the Hunter by Ruark. Of course Bobby R. doesn't have the following that HEM has, but darn it all, I enjoyed that book too.

Aren't the Nick Adams tales about hunting/fishing? I've always enjoyed the story about the Indian who committed suicide as his wife was giving birth.

When Hem wrote Green Hills he was in his prime and it shows in the work.

Ruark died at age 49 and didn't require any embalming fluid to become pickled. He also owned some nice guns. He lived in Spain. (taxes you know). Ruark lived under Hem's shadow and he knew and didn't like it. Hem was born in '99 and Ruark in '18, so they were about a generation apart in age, but similar in many ways. Ruark liked safari martinis which was straight gin poured from a bottle left in the sun on the back seat of the Landrover and served up in a plastic cup. Yummm. I've been on safari (camera) and did some drinking after hours with a few of the young PH's. Hint, if someone offers you a pink gin, consider turning it down.

[Grantham Forester]

Originally Posted by Steve McCarty

Coupla months ago I re-read the Green Hills of Africa, written about HEM's first safari in '33/34, paid for by his wife's uncle. They scared up the old boy who PH'd TR and Kermit's safari in (I think) 1905/6.

I took my time with the work and enjoyed it. At the same time I read The Horn of the Hunter by Ruark. Of course Bobby R. doesn't have the following that HEM has, but darn it all, I enjoyed that book too.

Aren't the Nick Adams tales about hunting/fishing? I've always enjoyed the story about the Indian who committed suicide as his wife was giving birth.

When Hem wrote Green Hills he was in his prime and it shows in the work.

Ruark died at age 49 and didn't require any embalming fluid to become pickled. He also owned some nice guns. He lived in Spain. (taxes you know). Ruark lived under Hem's shadow and he knew and didn't like it. Hem was born in '99 and Ruark in '18, so they were about a generation apart in age, but similar in many ways. Ruark liked safari martinis which was straight gin poured from a bottle left in the sun on the back seat of the Landrover and served up in a plastic cup. Yummm. I've been on safari (camera) and did some drinking after hours with a few of the young PH's. Hint, if someone offers you a pink gin, consider turning it down.

Just a few notes--The PH you mentioned was indeed Phillip Percival-- he was most likely the model for Robert Wilson in Hemingway's best short story ever-IMO anyway-- "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber"--Wilson carried a George Gibbs BA in .505 Gibbs caliber, Phillip Percival most likely had his .470 H&H double express rifle when he guided Teddy and Kermit Roosevelt, it was later damaged when run over by a lorry, and he went to a .416 Rigby with express sights and used that for the rest of his hunting/guiding career. I think Ruark was a first rate writer, he was born in 1915 and died in Spain in 1965 at age 50. He had Hemingway both used booze and women to excess, but Hemingway was not a known smoker, Ruark was a two-pack a day Lucky Strike man, and he died from cancer. His friend and PH from Africa was Harry Selby.

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Grantham Forester

Just a few notes--The PH you mentioned was indeed Phillip Percival-- he was most likely the model for Robert Wilson in Hemingway's best short story ever-IMO anyway-- "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber"--Wilson carried a George Gibbs BA in .505 Gibbs caliber, Phillip Percival most likely had his .470 H&H double express rifle when he guided Teddy and Kermit Roosevelt, it was later damaged when run over by a lorry, and he went to a .416 Rigby with express sights and used that for the rest of his hunting/guiding career. I think Ruark was a first rate writer, he was born in 1915 and died in Spain in 1965 at age 50. He had Hemingway both used booze and women to excess, but Hemingway was not a known smoker, Ruark was a two-pack a day Lucky Strike man, and he died from cancer. His friend and PH from Africa was Harry Selby.

Darn, you are tough! I was sure I had Ruark's dates correct. Oh, well. There is an interesting video entitled In the Blood wherein several heirs of Roosevelt go ahunt'n in Africa and shoot some of TR's guns. I met R.L. Wilson once (in Cody, Wy). He explained that the fire was worse that depicted in the flick and that they lost one of TR's rifles. He also said the scene wherein they attacked some poachers was more dangerous that shown. They killed a few.

I agree that Ruark was a fine writer. I found Something of Value amazing. I recall when my parents read it, everybody was, in ca. 1955. I was not allowed to. I own two copies now, one is a "loaner". There is an issue of Life magazine that covers Ruark's experiences in Africa during the Mau Mau uprising and I have a copy. Obama's great grandfather, apparently, was a Mau Mau leader. Nice guys, those.

I think Selby is still living and resides in Texas. There have been some nice articles of his experiences with Ruark published lately.

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Grantham Forester

...Hemingway both used booze and women to excess, but Hemingway was not a known smoker, Ruark was a two-pack a day Lucky Strike man, and he died from cancer. His friend and PH from Africa was Harry Selby.

God, I loved smoking Luckies. Of course I've quit, hasn't everyone? They don't even make Lucky Strikes anymore, another reason to quit smoking.

[Grantham Forester]

It was not a .470 H&H express. England banned the std .450 Nitro express shell, for fear of the "natives" using it in the older Martini-Henry rifles. W.W. Jeffrey developed the .450 Number 2- that had all the cordite based powder capacity of the std. .450 express, but could NOT be used in those early pre-Enfield army rifles. Phillip Percival had a matched pair of those .450 Nitro Express Number 2- made to order by Joseph Lang & Son in London, in 1927. As both "Green Hills of Africa" and "The Short, Happy Life----" were written circa 1933-1934, Percival would have had those "stoppers" with him. How Hemingway put a George Gibbs Mauser square bridge custom rifle in .505 Gibbs in the hands of his fictional character, PWH Robert Wilson, is unknown to me.

One of Ruark's best known works is "Use Enough Gun" and that big bore Gibbs would certainly quality.

[Grantham Forester]

Originally Posted by Grantham Forester

Just a few notes--The PH you mentioned was indeed Phillip Percival-- he was most likely the model for Robert Wilson in Hemingway's best short story ever-IMO anyway-- "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber"--Wilson carried a George Gibbs BA in .505 Gibbs caliber, Phillip Percival most likely had his .470 H&H double express rifle when he guided Teddy and Kermit Roosevelt, it was later damaged when run over by a lorry, and he went to a .416 Rigby with express sights and used that for the rest of his hunting/guiding career. I think Ruark was a first rate writer, he was born in 1915 and died in Spain in 1965 at age 50. He had Hemingway both used booze and women to excess, but Hemingway was not a known smoker, Ruark was a two-pack a day Lucky Strike man, and he died from cancer. His friend and PH from Africa was Harry Selby.

I just re-read the May/June 2011 issue of Sports Afield, the special hunting rifles issue. It was NOT Phillip Percival who had his double express rifle run over by a hunting car in Africa, it was Harry Selby. He had a Rigby .470 double express rifle, he put it down in the grass to assist the gun bearers with a dead lion just dispatched, another PWH drove up, a friend of Selby's, not knowing this, and the front wheels ran over the double rifle, severaly bending the barrels. Selby did have a M70 in .375 H&H in his battery, but he replaced the double Rigby with the Mauser BA in .416 Rigby with express sights, and used it for the rest of his 55 year career as a PWH. In this same issue there is a description of the Hemingway/Winston Guest Westley Richards .577 Nitro double express rifle, it hammered down for nearly $340K at Julia's, with the buyer's premium added in-- Wow!!!

[George Lander]

Another of Hemingway's hangouts was THE COMPLEAT ANGLER on the island of Bimini. It is a to this day a typical 1930' island watering hole with many pictures of Ernest decorating the walls along with some of his drinking/fishing buddies and some gigantic blue marlin.

Best Regards, George