by Tony Orman
Ted Trueblood was a marvellous writer in the USA’s “Field and Stream” magazines. As a teenager I read every article of his I came across. He made his living by doing three things:-hunting, fishing, and writing about the first two things. His is one of the most impressive legacies in outdoor journalism, made all the more remarkable because Ted Trueblood was so humble, unpretentious and practical.
Ted Trueblood (1913-1982) loved to write about the outdoors almost as much as he loved the outdoors itself. Raised on a family farm in the southwestern corner of Idaho, Ted Trueblood and his wife Ellen first lived in New York but he disliked the crowded city and they headed back to Idaho and the outdoors.
From his home in Idaho, he contributed hundreds of articles to Field and Stream and other outdoor journals, edited several book-length anthologies of his work, and, as the years went by, played an evermore influential role in the conservation and environmental movements in the American West.
Here’s a sample of his wise words:-
“If you instill in your child a love of the outdoors and an appreciation of nature, you will have given him a treasure no one can take away.”
“Don’t wait until you retire to go fishing.
Don’t even wait until your annual vacation. Go
at every opportunity. Things that appear more urgent at the moment may, in the long run, turn out to be far less so.”
Don’t even wait until your annual vacation. Go
at every opportunity. Things that appear more urgent at the moment may, in the long run, turn out to be far less so.”
“The silence of nature is very real. It surrounds you . . . you can feel it”.
But arguably the best of Ted Trueblood’s quotes was “Rule of Tomorrow”
“Never say I’ll go tomorrow. When you get a chance to go fishing, go. If you wait until tomorrow, tomorrow will drag into next week and next week and next week will drag into next month and next month into next year and some day it will be too late.”
Ted Trueblood – a ‘down to earth’ trout fisherman and hunter and conservationist and fine outdoors writer
