The Norman Maclean Reader

Perched on the first bench less than 100 feet below the mesa top, I've a view of several miles of the western face of Comb Ridge. Now, at a few minutes past midnight, with a full moon only a few days away, this next-to-last sentence (prior to well-wishes) in a letter from Maclean to his friend Bob Utley, struck a chord, "A teacher soon learns to save himself by treating the mediocre gently and briefly."

It is with those we trust (and love) that we can be direct and have confidence they'll recognize the origin of the intent.

It was a long day of discussion about misunderstandings and the complications of sustaining multiple relationships. But we closed with expressions of gladness at once again being in each other's company.

Philip Connors on Norman Maclean

From this essay by Connors:


As he says in the opening pages of “A River Runs Through It,” “all good things–trout as well as eternal salvation–come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.” 




Many of you have likely read A River Runs Through It. But it wasn't until just the other day that --  spending time with The Good Luck Duck -- I learned of Philip Connors.

Connors wrote Fire Season (in which he eloquently details the depredations of western livestock grazing) and a couple of other books. He's also an essayist and choosing from this list, I learned more about Maclean.

You might also enjoy The Good Luck Duck.