In That Sweet Country

Fly fishing has always been a sport that treasures the past.  Anglers fondly remember yesterday's rivers, fish landed, and favorite tackle.  Although we embrace the new of fly fishing, whether tackle or destinations, the past delivers us to the next date on the water with angling authors helping us along the way.  Harry Middleton is one such author, and the book In That Sweet Country: Uncollected works of Harry Middleton does just that. 

As angling authors go, Harry Middleton is a modern writer.  His first angling work, The Earth is Enough, was published in 1989.  This book won two writing awards in 1990 and elevated Middleton to the top shelf of American angling authors.  He followed his award winning book with four other angling titles:  On the Spine of Time, 1991; Starlight Creek Angling Society, 1992; along with Rivers of Memories, and Bright Country in 1993.  He tragically died of a heart attack in July of 1993.  His death was a loss to modern angling writing.

Middleton wrote with a reverence in regards to trout and their rivers. His form was simplistic and elegant.  His characters, human or inanimate, captured the reader with a warm, southern charm, for he was from the South.  While most writing on fly fishing is based in the Northeast or mountain West, Middleton opened the cold flowing streams of the Ozarks and Smokey Mountains to his readers.  These hidden waters held brook trout considered gems by Middleton, as were the people and geography that surrounded these streams.  He wrote not only of fishing, but of the natural history and the way of country life hidden amongst those southern hills.

Upon his death, his stories fell silent until now.  Skyhorse Publishing recently released In that Sweet Country, a collection of magazine articles penned by Middleton and selected by Ron Ellis.  The articles originally appeared in national publications such as Field and Stream, Southern Living, Gray's Sporting Journal, and Fly Rod and Reel. This title contains 36 works that cover not only fly fishing and trout; but quail, turkey, and grouse hunting; canoes; smallmouth bass; and whippoorwills.  The hard cover book allows the reader to see Middleton's passion for writing as well as for the outdoors.  His characters roll off the pages in lifelike fashion, while his reverent words enable personal meditation. 

I hope we all have a place that we think is "our personal" sweet country.  It may be a river like the Muskegon or Manistee.  With this title, you will see Middleton's.  In that Sweet Country is an overview of Harry Middleton's writing life--a life full of not only trout, but a way of life found only in the out-of-doors.

With the August heat, it is hard to imagine chilly mornings, coursing Chinooks, and colored leaves, but it is just around the bend. What better way to pass the time until fall but by the spending a little time In That Sweet Country

             Glen

To purchase this book, or other fine sporting literature, please contact Glen Blackwood at 616.866.6060 or by email.