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During his years at Alaska magazine, Ken
Marsh wrote many installments for his Hindsight column. All of which I
lapped up like a transplanted Minnesota farm boy thirsty for adventure
(which, coincidently…). Every story, every phrase, every word, did its best
to quench that thirst, but to no avail. Maybe it was the monthly format;
bite-size morsels which whetted but did not slake. Maybe it was the flowery
delivery. Maybe I’m all wet and should return to the flatlands.
Maybe not. A few months ago, I bought Breakfast at Trout’s
Place and found a fountain of a book. From the first chapter, I was hooked
(bad pun, I know, but true). The fact that I had recently moved from
Anchorage to Big Lake (like he had) and knew immediately where Trout’s Place
was, certainly got my attention. That he described it in detail kept me
reading. And when he can’t wait for break-up and ends up “crotch deep in
snow—deep enough that this morning’s powder is sifting into the tops of my
hip boots,” I began to realize this man takes two things in life seriously:
fishing and writing. Which is good for us because the common fishing thread
ties it together like the hackle of a bent-wing mosquito. Covering all
seasons, all fish, some of the classic locales, and many of the
not-in-the-least-classic locales for fishing this great land, Marsh does
more than slake thirst. He makes you realize fishing is not just hook, line,
and fly. And he does it from the eyes of a born-here, raised-here, grown-up
kid who knows the value of a first fish.
If you have the same affinity for sunfish
and bullheads (like I) that he has for grayling and rainbows, you will enjoy
this book.
And as for my opinion that his writing is
“flowery,” perhaps Anthony Route describes it better in his forward: “Ken
has not only the experience but the ability to eloquently convey in print
what it’s really like to spend time as an outdoorsman in Alaska.” That’s it,
“to eloquently convey.”
This book goes on the top shelf of my
Alaska collection.
—John Erskine
Breakfast at Trout’s Place
by Ken Marsh
Johnson Books
e-mail:
books@jpcolorado.com
ISBN 1-55566-247-1
paperback
$16.00
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