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Ever since I was a little girl, books have figured as a large part of holiday gift giving in my family. None of us are unhappy to see that familiar rectangular package under the tree, whether the wrappings reveal the latest bestseller, an autographed Ross Thomas, a well-written history or a how-to related to our hobby du jour. If your stocking holds a paperback that my mother found particularly worthy, you're not unhappy that it may have displaced a sugarplum or two. And sometimes you get lucky when that package that you think contains only a cashmere sweater or a gold-plated pantooka, actually holds an oversized volume. A friend-also from a book-loving family-used to take a suitcase full of books to bed with her to guard them from her sisters. With a nod to "Seinfeld's" Elaine Bennis, she and I sometimes speak of books as being "suitcase worthy." So, happily, I have two book recommendations for either gift
giving or your own suit (or book) case. The book is broken into 10 parts, each with a sub-theme, such as "Initiation" or "Predators and Prey." Within these parts several writers offer perspectives on the topic. Some of the writing stretches back a century, in first-hand accounts of hunting around the globe. In 1930, for example, Gretchen Cron, a well-born New Yorker married to a German businessman, went to Africa, hunting with both shotgun and camera.
Cron writes wittily about the lions, who were in what she called "courtin' season," but in doing so she captures not just the standard portrait of the king of the jungle, but the lioness as well, perhaps anthropomorphizing them a bit more than we would today. It's interesting to remember, though, that this was in a time well before documentaries, serious zoology and even the array of nature programs on television. Cron's experiences are first-hand in a way we could never hope to duplicate. Cron, like most of the other writers in the book, was unfamiliar to me. One of Heart Shots' greatest values may be that it brings to our attention many fine "outdoor" writers with whom we were not previously acquainted. A very useful section at the end of the book lists all the contributors with a brief biographical sketch. I imagine many of their works are now out of print, but those who get the bug might want to seek out a new favorite in second hand stores and build a library of such women's works. Those from an earlier time with whom we have some previous familiarity, include Annie Oakley who contributes a biographical piece in response to readers and fans interested in her life, and the British writer-adventuress-aviatrix Beryl Markham. Among the names more familiar to me was Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of the classic The Yearling. Many people stick the word "children's" before classic when referring to that book, primarily because the Oscar-nominated film version is considered kid's fare, and in the days before DVDs and cable, was popular as a suitable entertainment for kids in schools across the country who could readily identify with young Jodie no matter how far from Florida's outback they lived. But Rawlings, who won a Pulitzer for The Yearling, was able to capture a frontier that still existed in the early to mid part of the 20th century, not in buckskins and log cabins, but in the real lives of people who lived away from cities and depended on nature for food. In an excerpt from her memoir, Cross Creek, detailing her life in the Florida Everglades, Rawlings admits to breaking the law in pursuit of dinner. "Our Daily Bread" tells the story of her blackbird shooting and subsequent pie-making, despite the fact that the Redwing Blackbird was listed as protected on the federal hunting license she held. I doubt if many male hunting writers would admit to be inspired to do so by the nursery rhyme ("four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie"), nor certainly share their recipes. Rawlings does both, at the same time, making it clear that those that live amongst nature both respect it and exploit it. She is able to conjure the image of these birds as "cheerful chirruping things" and at the same time matter-of-factly admit to relying on them for food when game was scarce or she hadn't been to market. Limpkins (a kind of crane), raccoons, 'possums, deer, bear and wildcat all fall to Rawlings' or her friends' hunting skills, and all end up on the table-some more successfully than others. W&G readers should also note that Sheila Link contributes a piece titled "Daylight Stalker," which is written as a short story and reads as well as anything The New Yorker might offer up. Stange, in addition to her well thought out Introduction provides
"In the Snow Queen's Palace," a skillful blend of personal
revelation, winter hunting and the power of myths, taken from
her book Woman the Hunter. In another "Seinfeld" episode, the inventive Cosmo Kramer creates a literary sensation with his coffee table book-literally a book with legs that acts as the aforementioned piece of living room furniture. I mention this because my most serious complaint about Larry Wilson's Silk and Steel is the lack of legs. This is a big book, overscale in size and 320 pages, many of them filled with the over 300 color images the book contains. Silk and Steel (ISBN 0-375-50761-2, $65 from Random House) is subtitled "Women at Arms." Wilson, author of over 35 books, many of them lavishly illustrated histories of individual firearms companies, takes a similar approach in Silk and Steel, albeit with a much wider-ranging subject.
Even the appendices are load with fascinating nuggets-there were, for example, apparently 55 females "engaged in gunmaking" on a professional basis in London, during the period 1350-1850. (And one was 10 years old! And two were 75!) Each of the chapters contains collages of photos and artifacts relating to the subject by famed photographer Peter Beard. This is an ideal way of presenting a lot of connected visual information, although even in the large 11 x 8-1/2" format, several intriguing images get a bit lost. An entire chapter is fittingly devoted to Annie Oakley, the original sports superstar. Oakley's guns and shooting accoutrements are featured as well as numerous advertising and promotional items bearing her likeness. We learn that Remington named its popular (and enduring) Sure Shot brand after Oakley's nickname "Little Sure Shot," and also that she had printed up a pamphlet titled "Answers to Ten Questions I Am Asked Every Day," which indicates she was more famous in her day, than, well, David Letterman. The following chapter discusses other "Wild West Show" performers and a veritable conga line of husband-and-wife exhibition duos, all patterned (and some known to) Oakley and Frank Butler. I knew about shotgunners "Plinky" (nee Elizabeth) and Ad Topperwein, but didn't realize there were so many others of these shooting Freds & Gingers. Many of Plinky Topperwein's shotgun records stand today, despite the fact they were accomplished a half century or more ago. I particularly enjoyed the last part of this chapter which features W&G's own Susan Laws and her adventures as Single Action Shooting Society cowgirl "Aimless Annie." A few pages later, in a chapter entitled "The Sporting Tradition," another collage surveys the talents of Mary Zeiss Stange, who Wilson calls "the most eloquent spokesperson on women and hunting." Women known and unknown fill the pages of Silk and Steel,
as do guns and accessories made for them, a surprising number
of advertising images from the Gilded Age, depicting women with
guns and a strong collection of popular culture images of armed
women-from a Louis L'Amour book jacket to this magazine's "Terminator
2" cover. As befits this type of book, it is well to remember that it is designed more for dipping into than devouring at one time. It certainly would make a handsome addition to the coffee table that doesn't groan with remotes and catalogs, a generous donation to a girl's school, or a delightful gift for a friend (male or female). For those interested in an even more lavish gift, leatherbound, numbered and signed editions of Silk and Steel are available directly from the author as are signed standard editions. For more information on these, contact Larry Wilson, at PO Box 430, Dept. WG, Hadlyme, CT 06439; phone toll-free at 866-278-2888 or visit his website at www.wilsonbooks.com
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By
Peggy Tartaro,
She wrote one book, The Roaring Veldt, from which
Stange has selected a chapter called "King, Sultan or President?"
dealing with her party's stalking of lions.
From Artemis/Diana to San Francisco fitness boutique
owner Mimi Towbis, there are a lot of images of women at arms,
and a lot of interesting information.
