In Carver Country.
By Greg Ames. When his first collection of short stories was published, I was a young associate professor at the University of Buffalo. This was back in 1976 or 1977, I think. We’d all read the book in hardcover and couldn’t stop talking about it. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? The laconism of those [...]
Near Klamath
Raymond Carver We stand around the burning oil drum and we warm ourselves, our hands and faces, in its pure lapping heat. We raise steaming cups of coffee to our lips and we drink it with both hands. But we are salmon fishermen. And now we stamp our feet on the snow and rocks and [...]
Caught By The Reaper – Mikey Dread
Mikey Dread, 1st January, 1954 – 15th March 2008 Must have been around 1978 that I gave Paul Simonon a C-90 (that’s an audio cassette to you young ‘uns) of Dread at the Controls, a legendary radio show in Jamaica. That set in motion a sequence of events that led to me becoming friends and [...]
Archaeological Scrumping
Peter Kirby on ‘archaeological scrumping’ on the North Bank of the Thames You might remember we ran Peter Kirby’s brilliant pieces on cycling from sea to source on the River Teifi a couple of months back (thanks to howies for that hook up). When we were talking to him about running it, he happened to [...]
Letter From France
Jeff that’s a great osterly brace, even if it wasnt carp or chub week, it’s a sweet end. love to see the tench, love to catch a tench. they’re extinct in france. they eat ‘em. if i had access to a private oxon lake i’d kill for it. good luck with that. i’m fed up [...]
The River
18 March 2008 // Books //On Water
By Raymond Carver I waded, deepening, into the dark water. Evening, and the push and swirl of the river as it closed around my legs and held on. Young grilse broke water. Parr darted one way, smolt another. Gravel turned under my boots as I edged out. Watched by the furious eyes of king salmon. [...]
The Last Day.
The traditional coarse fishing season came to an end last Friday. The final chance to fish favourite rivers sees anglers grabbing every opportunity to get on the bank in hope of catching the monster or to drink tea with their mates for the last time before June 16. Of course, it never really goes to [...]
Downstream
15 March 2008 // Books //On Water
Andrew, Robin & I have been working on ideas for books for the last few months and just yesterday concluded a deal with Mathew Clayton at Cassell for what will be our first one. It will simply be called “Caught By The River” and it will be an illustrated collection of writings / meditations on [...]
Rock On.
from todays Guardian Richard Williams on the king with an Ace up his sleeve I wish, now, that I’d spent more time at Ted Carroll’s Rock On stall, hidden away in the Golborne Road market at the top of Portobello Road in London. This was at the dawn of the 1970s, long before fashionable affluence [...]
Spring Offensive : Leave Cancelled
ja tragic luck that, in dry dock with thames pox. angler’s curse, pepys’ revenge, and falling at season’s end is a court case under sod’s law. may the scales and scabs fall from your eyes and the spume of cess ridden weirpools glance off your shield. sipping claret in a punt as your herrings bob [...]
