| Uncle John Simeone considers Ruark his "outdoor writer hero" |
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| John Simeone, Outdoor Writer |
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In Search of Ruark
By John Simeone
“Robert Ruark's final hidden lesson is certainly something of value to all outdoorsmen.”
I just realized I have never been to the 21 Club in New York, so I checked out the menu, found the cuisine to my liking, so I called up my daughter and told her to get herself a date and have him take her to the 21 and report back. “Don't worry, if you don't have a good time I'll have your date shot at sunrise,” I told Tina Marie. Robert Ruark, my mother and father had all inhabited the 21 club in years past when the gentlemen listened to jazz, smoked and drank too much and actually read the newspaper. You wore a coat and tie to the 21 and now, at least, I find that even after the social change of dumbing down the dress code, you still wear a coat and tie to the 21 club. The “Rat Pack,” if you will, thank goodness.
Nobody shoots a double any more, Ruark had a Sauer 16 that he even shot Sand Grouse on Safari with. I have several side by sides and over and unders, which are the fastest you know; and most ergonomic. Most of my early quail hunts were with a Remington 1100, but for the most part it was the Setters that made the hunt and not the shotgun. The first chapter in the Old Man and the Boy, rings true about gun safety and how the birds will rise, and what the dog is supposed to do, and what you are supposed to do; its been a while since I eased up behind a bird dog. At the flush of a covey you will know why Ruark developed such a passion for bobwhites.
I have found that many men in the South that profess to be outdoorsmen read very little, somehow this reading thing is somewhat of a chore, or something only women do. Funny, as I remember, it was my mother that read me the works of Robert Ruark before I could read myself. Hazel Marie had quite a talent for the literary arts, being a script writer for WNBC in New York at the same time Ruark wrote for the Times. My father Frank Simeone was in the orchestra of Paul Whitman or Red Norvo, so no doubt they all crossed paths at the 21 Club. My mother of course was quite a fan of Ruark, so this is how some of the legacy was passed on.
Like Ruark I was much of a loner. The family moved to Booneville Arkansas and I got my first dose of red neck ignorance at an early age when I discovered I was the only Simeone in a world full of Smith and Jones. They never could say my last name so I learned to answer to many derivatives. Interestingly it was this same problem with pronouncing my name, that caused Ft. Polk's Chief Federal Game Warden, Elton Herring to give up and just call me Uncle John.
With me, as opposed to Ruark, there were several Old Men that became my mentors. My Father Frank, A Cherokee Medicine Man Lou Ellison, A Sergeant Major George Chaney, the Professor of Psychology at Stanford, Dr Edward Simpson Kallas and an old Deer Hunter, H. Lauvaughn Roshong. After I went through all of them, I was the Old Man.
Although Ruark was definitely my outdoor literary hero, as a writer, most likely due to lack of a formal higher education, I will never be like him. So I can't be accused of trying to copy his style. Truthfully, I never had that much time or space in my articles to discover if I could emulate the master. Where Ruark went to Journalism School at a very early age, my first year of college was interrupted by a little letter from Uncle Sam that said “Greetings.”
I spent the next 20 years learning how to write military police investigations making me a nightmare for an editor. Everything was like Jack Web, just the facts mam. I didn't realize at the time I was becoming quite an observer to just about everything. When I retired from the Army now I was free, hell, I could even lie in my stories if I wanted to; well maybe just an exaggeration or two. Now don't tell me Ruark didn't do that.
Everyone that digs into Ruark finds he was quite a man on the bottle. So who cares? I drink very little, and never smoked at all, certainly this doesn't make me a better writer. It can be a positive lesson in a way to learn about Ruarks final affliction if you think about it. Ruark was his own man, they say the good die young. Perhaps it is selfishness among those who loved his work the most that feel slighted, wishing he had stayed around a little longer. I never met the man, but if I did I'd have no qualms sitting and having a few drinks and picking his brain, very few others would I want to do this with. The man, his work, truly something of value, and unforgettable.
I loved the Horn of the Hunter, so much better than Hemingway's, The Green Hills of Africa, as it all dealt with Ruark's ardent love for Africa itself. Ruark had no obsession with Trophies, he took things as they came by the luck of the draw and many times was in fact very lucky. Unlike Hemingway, Ruark could laugh at himself, a trait that in my book made him great. “Was he equal to Hemingway,” you ask? “You damn right he was.”
Of the great outdoor writers, to me he was the best. He was not technical like Keith or O'Connor but this is a good thing if you are a gun writer like they were. He didn't keep score like Hemingway, no, Ruark showed hunting and fishing as a true way of life, as the story teller.
There is one thing for sure I have derived over time, Robert Ruark was the true innovator of the outdoor axiom of “Pass it on.” The Old Man and the Boy was the ultimate example for all others to emulate. Every time I hear the Mossy Oak Song, it reminds me of the story of a young Robert Ruark being raised up properly under the tutelage of a patient grandfather. This puts the author in the realm of more than just a writer, he sets the example as a truly great American.
Evidently Gene Roddenberry was a fan of Ruark, as he did something little known even to Star Trek fans that seem to know everything about the famous science fiction saga of space travel. The beautiful Afro American duet of Nichelle Nichols and later Zoe Saldana, who played the Character of Uhuru, have set role models ever since the moniker was coined. Ruark used the Swahili word that means Freedom, titling his second book about the Mau Mau political uprising in Africa. It happened by chance that Nichelle Nichols was reading Ruark's book Uhuru the day she auditioned for the original part, and the name was added to what later became a household word. The almost surreptitious first name for the character “Nyota” meant Star in Swahili, making Nichelle and Zoe, Stars of Freedom for two generations of Star Trek beauties. No doubt Ruark would have loved this.
I like to know the Uncle John articles are required reading at my old High School in Magazine Arkansas. Robert Ruark is and should always be required reading to students of the literary arts as well as to all intellectual outdoorsmen.
I suppose the search for Robert Ruark becomes a search for myself in many ways, obviously he was an inspiration as a silent mentor to me. The contemporary outdoor writer with the hype of commercialization has somehow lost the adventurous story telling ways of Ruark, the humor, the passion all that should not be lost. It is not all about interviews with strangers in the role of reporter of the “Looky what I caught article.” No, Ruark was unique in his writings about hunting and fishing, he made us want to pack up and go just like he did. However, in retrospect, the most important Ruark lesson is simple, he taught us how to....Pass it on.
Uhuru, Wikipedia
Uncle John's Outdoors, Louisiana Road Trips Magazine
John Simeone outdoor writer Foremost Hunting.com
For the Robert Ruark Society
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John Simeone AKA Uncle John
This award winning outdoor writer from Louisiana was first inspired to write by his mother Hazel Marie, who was a script writer for WNBC in New York. One of her associates was the author and adventurer Robert Ruark, which she read to John at a very early age. John grew up in the Ozark Mountains near Booneville Arkansas learning to hunt and fish while developing a sense of observation as a naturalist.
John's college studies were interrupted by the latter part of the Vietnam Draft as John started a new career in the Army Military Police. He traveled to Europe and Alaska developing a writing skill on the way as well as a knack for criminal investigation. His shooting skills were enhanced when he auditioned for the Army rifle team twice and made it both times, only to be delayed by Army mission requirements.
John was also a famous martial art instructor in the Army and achieved a world championship in 1984 along with many of his students. He achieved the highest rank in Karate a 10th Degree Black Belt.
His adventures as an Alaskan Federal Game Warden at Fort Richardson are inscribe in the articles Frozen and Standing the Charge, as well as a complete internet collection of hunting and shooting articles in what is now called the Uncle John Outdoor collection at Foremost Hunting.com.
John, as a writer covered many controversial outdoor issues, including the legalization of the crossbow in several states when he teamed up with Daniel Hendricks and Leone Russo, the fathers of American Crossbow Hunting. At Fort Polk Louisiana, John invented the Top Gun Challenge rifle match which is considered the World Championship of Squirrel Rifles. Published thousands of times in outdoor magazines, websites, and newspapers, John inspires new outdoor writers to follow in the footsteps of Robert Ruark, who he holds a debt of gratitude. In honor of Ruark's, The Old Man and the Boy, read to John by his mother, Uncle John ends all of his works with the reminder to ...Pass it on.
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