The used to be a rather prolific gun writer(Field & Stream?)back in the 60s and 70s by the name of Bob Zwirz. I am wondering if anyone knows what became of him? I did an online search and didn't come up with much of anything.
Jim

In those days, one writer would use several different names. Hard to say who it might have been.

He was a regular writer (staff writer?) for GUN WORLD in the '60s and early '70s. I am unaware of a possible affiliation with other publications.

I couldn't remember the name of the publication for sure so thanks for the update. BTW: I believe that was his real name but he seemed to just have dropped off the face of the earth.
Jim

I have gun magazines from the 1980s or so with lots of his articles in them. and i do believe they are Gun World. I've wondered the same thing thing about a gunwriter named Frank Petrini, who kind of looked like the Kix Brooks.

I remember reading some of his articles. Haven't read anything by him for years. Must have gone to the Big Range in the Sky.

George Nonte was one writer who adopted various names. David Wesley was one such alias. All by himself, he kept more than one gun magazine alive by writing most of the articles.

Jack Lewis and Dean Grennell, both of GW, passed away years ago. Lewis had moved to the big island of Hawaii after retiring; he authored a number of interesting articles from Hawaii. Zwirz was also middle-aged 30-40 years ago, so he may also have passed on.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

I recall all of those men. The man at, Field & Stream was Ed Zern, not Bob Z. He was a humorist. I think he wrote, "Exit Laughing" on the last page of the magazine back when they had staffers like Warren Page, Ted Trueblood, and A.J. McLane.

I don't know what became of Zwirz, who was only at, "Gun World", to my knowledge. His, ah, substantial physique made him memorable.

I'm pretty sure that a modern gun writer uses not only his real name, but writes as Wile E. Coyote. One goes as Ken S. Latrans, too. That's just a corruption of the scientific name of the coyote, Canis latrans. How many of you noted that?

Bob Zwirz - StriperSurf Forums

This guy writes about fly fishing. Fly fishing, guns. Pretty much the same thing.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

You could try sending an email to Elizabeth Zwirz ezwirz@eden****tgers.edu
Bob was her uncle. It looks like he passed away quite some time ago.

I miss Dean Grennell and George C. Nonte.

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

I recall the gun writers of the 60s and early 70s. Some writers seemed a bit arrogant and condescending to me. No disrespect intended to Mr. Swirz or his fans but he was not one of my favorite writers.

My favorite writers have been Jack O'Connor, Sheriff Jim Wilson and Bill Jordan. These writers were authoritative without "talking down" to their readers.

I used to really enjoy Skeeter Skelton myself.
Jim

IIRC Bob Zwirz lived in Connecticut, Gun World listed him as the Easter Editor.

EasternN editor?

[QUOTE=BLACKHAWKNJ;138756026]IIRC Bob Zwirz lived in Connecticut, Gun World listed him as the Easter Editor. QUOTE]

Nope. He wrote all year long.

I always liked Mike Venturino, and then I met him. After that I really liked him. What a nice guy. We had mutual friends here in CA. and when in Livingston I went to his house and he showed me his gun room down stairs. Of the guns he showed me, two were especially relevant here. His Triple Lock Target and K-.32. Oh. And there were Sharps leaning against the wall, too.

That email address is no longer valid!
Jim

So I am late to the game on this one but I was searching the web for some of my uncles books and articles and saw your post. Bob Zwirz was my uncle, he passed away in the 1980's and was living in Connecticut at that time. He was a great writer for both Field and Stream, Guns magazine and a few others as well a few books.
Hope I helped, if you are still here...

George Nonte was the man back when.........Walter Walsh(famous pistol shooter) was good too......The new guys seem to praise anything they are given to test......aka......never met a gun they didn't like......

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S&W Accumulator

I read George Nonte in the '60s and '70s, but in retrospect, I wonder why. He produced a lot of articles, perhaps under a variety of names. While I'm sure he had a following, I never learned much from his material, with one exception.

Couldn't see much point in the articles about performing various handloading procedures using improvised equipment rather than the proper tools.

I do recall one two-piece article he and Neal Knox (HANDLOADER & RIFLE editor) did around 1970 that was excellent. They pressure tested all the high-performance 38 Special rounds available at the time (more than most of us think) in the Lee Jurras' Super Vel lab, then duplicated them with handloads. Still a classic piece of gunwriting.

I remember reading Bob Zwirz.
I liked his style.

I recall him, too, and really liked him.

Liked the others, too, and sure wish they were still here writing today, rather than the group we have now.

Used to subscribe to most all the Gun Mags, now Guns and Handgunner are all I get (Rifleman comes too, and its quality fluctuates a lot).

Bob

Very interesting reading............

and for the non-gun buffs there was.......
Lee wolf. (spelling ? )

And.........Corey Ford......Great stuff!

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S&W Accumulator

I enjoyed Nonte's writing, always had the feeling he was there talking to you, combined vast technical expertise
with a clear writing style that didn't try to impress you with his erudition. He wrote a good book on cartridge conversions.
Regarding noms de plume, Isaac Asimov said he was told to submit stories
under aliases, that way if he was rejected...he stubbornly insisted that he would submit articles with his name on them, come what may. He noted people came to believe that "Isaac Asimov" was a pseudonym and his real name was something like John Smith.

+1

I especially miss Dean Grennell's by-line. He lived near me in Menomonee Falls, WI for awhile. His prose was fairly technical yet an easy read. One article I recall concerned a super accurate custom made .45 ACP target pistol labelled the Wilson(?). Only thought to be three built and said to be a super accurate autoloader. He was also a pretty fair photographer and woodworker. Did a number of books in the 1970's for the old DBI Books.

Bruce

When I was a gun writer, I met Dean at a press conference for Speer. He was very nice. I enjoyed his articles at, Gun World over the years, and his DBI books.


He said that after his move to CA (?) he wasn't able to shoot as often as he had, but still enjoyed it.


Speaking of, Gun World, I met Jack Lewis a time or two, and separately knew his USMC aide, with whom I researched an article about an arts and crafts town in modern Texas. Small world!

Col. Walter Walsh was a USMC officer and a FBI agent. But I don't recall him being a gun writer. Where'd you see his material? He could certainly have written interesting articles.


I think Jack O'Connor was the sole gun writer ever to receive an obit. notice in the mainstream press. I think this was probably due to him having been a college professor and having founded the Journalism dept. at an AZ university.


Today, I think Brian Pearce is exceptional and a few others, like Denis Prisby, turn out good articles. I think Prisby is a member here and on one of the Ruger boards, maybe both. If he sees this, I want him to know that I enjoy his writing and sometimes learn from it.

I do know he also wrote a book titled "Mossberg guide to modern slug shooting". Not knowing anything about guns myself I haven't purchased it though I have tried to get most of his fishing books for family keeping. One day I may try Fly Fishing as that seems to be a fav of his.
I am glad to see some of you remember him.

I remember his fishing articles (maybe some hunting, too) in
F&S from the mid-late 60s.

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Georgia On My Mind

I met him at the NRA Convention in Philidelphia about 1981 or 1982. I think he wrote for Gun World. I talked to him for a few minutes. He was very nice.