Award-winning author and outdoorsman Jim Mize shares some of his favorite relaxing, entertaining and constructive fireside reads, including instructional books, columns, fiction, mystery and humor pieces on hunting, fly fishing, cooking, the great outdoors and more.
As the days grow shorter and a cold wind whips around my cabin, I find the lure of a warm fire with the dog by my side compelling. Throw in the companionship of an old book, worn from use, and the night slowly fades until I do as well.
My library continues to grow, as I am a gatherer rather than a collector. Many books are read once and merely stacked, while others are kept within easy reach to be read again. I will share with you the books that I turn to time and again.
Perhaps you already have read the books of Robert Ruark, The Old Man and the Boy, Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, Archibald Rutledge, Wild Life of the South or Havilah Babcock, My Health is Better in November. If not, you might do no better than to read any or all of these books. Each is a classic in its own way.
But I’ve also found a number of past writers whose words hold true still and make fine fireside companions.
Many of these books may be found online at reasonable prices if you’re not looking for collector quality. Perhaps some of these authors have escaped your notice.
As fireside books go, Gene Hill’s A Hunter’s Fireside Book might be a good place to start. Hill wrote the “Hill Country” column for Field & Stream for many years and then authored a dozen books. A Hunter’s Fireside Book was the first of these.
This book is a collection of short columns, and Hill finds a way to reach common ground with those of us who spend time outdoors. Any of Hill’s books will warm your spirits.
Another Field & Stream columnist, Corey Ford, wrote for them for twenty years. His column, “The Lower Forty Hunting, Shooting and Inside Straight Club,” involved a comical bunch of characters who often gathered at Uncle Perk’s store. Ford had the knack of tickling your funny bone as well as tugging your heartstrings.
His collection, The Best of Corey Ford, is one I turn to regularly.
To read about fishing, life, and relationships, one might do no better than Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It and Other Stories.
More than likely, you have seen the movie that inspired so many to take up fly fishing. Even if you have, this book is worth an evening or two. I’m always encouraged that Maclean only began to write after he retired from teaching. Perhaps I have a few more stories of my own to write.
If you have an interest in forest fires, you might also pick up his book, Young Men and Fire, the story of the Mann Gulch fire that claimed the lives of thirteen firefighters.
When I want something lighter to read by the fire, I turn to any book by Ed Zern. If this name is unfamiliar, Zern wrote the “Exit Laughing” column for Field & Stream magazine for over thirty years.
Zern’s style of humor is unique simply for having stood the test of time. His first book, To Hell With Fishing, was published in 1945. His last book, The Best of Ed Zern: Fifty Years of Fishing and Hunting from One of America’s Best-Loved Outdoor Humorists, came out fifty years later. Any of his books will produce a laugh.
Another humor writer who might be more familiar is Patrick McManus. His humor columns ran for over twenty years in Outdoor Life magazine and appeared in other publications as well. His first book, A Fine and Pleasant Misery, was published in 1978.
McManus told tales of mishaps with characters such as Rancid Crabtree, Retch Sweeney and his dog Strange. He went on to write two dozen books, including six Bo Tulley mysteries.
A number of books can be instructional as well as entertaining. Reading about your favorite outdoor pursuit can give you fresh ideas about your next trip afield.
For instance, Colonel Tom Kelly’s Tenth Legion has been in such demand by those interested in turkey hunting that it has remained in print for over fifty years.
As those familiar with this elusive game bird will quickly attest, not all hunts go quite as planned, and you can learn from these as well. Jim Spencer tells tales of this sort in his book Bad Birds. The popularity of these stories led to volumes II and III following this first book.
Fly fishing is a pursuit that some beginners find mystifying. Perhaps few explained it better than Dave Whitlock.
Whitlock was an angler with many talents, including writing, painting, fly-tying, and innovation. When someone asks for a recommendation of books for the beginning fly angler, I often suggest the L.L. Bean Fly-Fishing Handbook.
Whitlock wrote this book to serve as the textbook for the L.L. Bean Fly Fishing Schools. It covers the intricacies of fly fishing with a clarity typical of Whitlock’s writing. Now over forty years old, this handbook remains in print and has since been updated.
As you sit by the fire, anticipating a successful deer hunt, your mind might leap ahead to prepare a fine meal from your harvest. If you need a cookbook to thumb through, consider picking up one by Jim Casada.
Jim and his wife Ann wrote several venison cookbooks over the years, including The Complete Venison Cookbook: From Field to Table. Jim grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains, where wild game was common table fare. You can feel certain these recipes survived through trial by fork.
Related reading: 5 Cooking Tips for Wild Game
Many of these books can be found online at reasonable prices and I have stumbled upon a few of them while browsing through antique stores.
In fact, some years ago while knee-deep in book stacks, I ran across my first book, The Winter of Our Discount Tent. Perhaps it’s not become a classic, but it’s presence in an antique store probably hints at both our ages.
One that might also fit on the table by your armchair is my most recent book, The Jon Boat Years. A collection of tales that goes back as far as fifty years, it shares mirth and truth and my memory still allows it. It has also been selected for three Excellence in Craft awards. You can get autographed copies at acreektricklesthroughit.com.
With the collection of friends mentioned above, you and the dog can have a lively evening by the fire, reading until the embers fade and you begin to nod off.
