On the way to work, I stopped by a garage sale to look for that once in a lifetime brand new never used Watermaster for $150 like someone on this board found a couple of years ago. Alas...But, they had 4 Patrick McManus books, at least 1/2 of which I already own. I once almost got thrown off of an airliner because of Pat. It was probably about 10 years before 9-11 and I made the mistake of taking a Field and Stream to read. Naturally, I turned immediately to the last page where Pat's column resided. It was one of the classics. Pretty soon, I was, as they say now, lmao, and trying my best to contain myself. The result was tears and some rather horrid facial expressions. The lady next to me pretended not to notice, except to quietly whisper death threats (she did this even when we weren't flying), but the woman next to her mentioned what she considered my odd behavior to the stewardess (excuse me, cabin attendant), who came to check on me and make sure I wasn't drunk or drugged. I came damn close to getting tossed. After that, one more little rule--no McManus on airplanes. As I was paying for my garage sale find, the lady told me her husband's friends had bought them for him while he was in the hospital recovering from a laminectomy on his neck. Apparently, they were not just what the doctor ordered, but no permanent damage was done by his contortions. Anyway, Pat's a northwest treasure. If you haven't read him, especially his older stuff, well...you need to.
Love McManus' works. No matter how many times I read the story about his dog and the turkey gravy, I bust a gut. BTW, that was $50 for the Watermaster (it was me! )
Read those books over and over as a kid. Love them. Then met Pat at a book event and found him to be kind of an ass. Now, he was probably just having a bad day or something. but as a 8-10 year old or whatever, it was an early lesson in valuing what people create, but not building anyone up into a "hero".
I remember my father laying in bed cracking up so hard I had to go in a ask why? he told me he had just got this book by pat and I just had to read it. bought many more! love rancid crabtree and the other people in his writings. I have also gave his books as gifts. chukar hunting for the first time this winter I recalled his story on eastern oregon chukar hunting and the dead snake on the rock bluff! kept me smiling while in dyer pain from climbing the canyon walls! his stories as a kid are priceless!
Everybody has a bad day. I first met him at the Spokane Eddie Bauer store back in the early 80's. He was just standing around without any identification looking like a store employee doing nothing, so I asked him to help me with buying a sweater. But I guess since he lived in Cheney most Spokane folks knew him fairly well and there was NOBODY talking to him. Anyway, he did not help with buying a sweater, but we spoke for about an hour and had a great time. After that there was always a crowd whenever I went to get my books signed by him. It is close to a complete collection. But he was still a gentleman and a class act. A bad day and lots of crowds can do that to you. Maybe he flew that day. He hates to fly.
Yeah, like I said, I was pretty young. Things were still black/white back then. If someone was an ass, then they were an ass. Learning that people could act one way and really be another was still ahead of me I think. And in any case, I continued to read and love his books. Which is really all that matters. Probably all that matters to McManus as well.
Great points, and good on you for recognizing it could have been a bad day for Pat. I agree he would care about the fact that you continue to read and enjoy books (not just his), but I think your take-away preception of Pat would matter to him, too. If you contacted him (through his publisher, perhaps) and shared your story, he'd likely respond with an apology at least -- maybe an autographed book or two, as well. I've actually had the privilege to spend some time with him in the field, and at writers' events. He's one of the most outgoing writers I've known, spending more time interacting with his readers than most other writers.
I remember having a several hour long fit of laughter after reading the story on the summer's "science experiment", which consisted of them urinating in mason jars and storing them in the attic.
My wife has but two "written" house rules, one of which is that I'm not permitted to read any books authored by Mr. Pat McManus while in bed. On the two occassions I did (before the written rule that I was forced to sign) there was no way to control my laughter and I awoke the sleeping grizzly. The "Snake" story was the catalyst and "My First Deer" was the final straw.
Yep, the First Deer was the one that got me in trouble with the airplane folks. And Retch, Rancid and Crazy Eddie Muldoon caused more than their share of stares from total strangers.
After reading this thread I'll have to go back and reread McManus. I have several of his books. I met him more than 20 years ago and he was very friendly. We must of talked for an hour about fishing and bird hunting.
