A Letter From Elmer Keith!

[JLM]

Hi All,

So, I'm cleaning out some junk from an upstairs closet and I come across a scrapbook that says "Hunting" on it. I guess my Mom put it together many years ago with stuff I collected while hunting with my Dad. Some of my earliest hunting licenses from the 70's, pics of my first Canada Goose, pics of my Dad's guns. So as I'm flipping through the pages, I see an old letter. It's to me from THE Elmer Keith! I didn't remember this at all, so I jump on the phone to my Mom in Florida to see what she remembers about it. She tells me that in 1975 (I was 12), I got a school assignment to write to someone and ask them to be my pen pal. I was probably fresh off of reading Keith's autobiography, so I wrote to him, and he was gracious enough to send me a reply. She said that my Dad told her that she ought to to put that away because he was "someone famous".

He wasn't the best speller, but I still feel honored that he took the time to write a silly kid back to say that he could not be his pen pal, and to pass on some advice that still stands today. I attached a scan of the letter for everyone to take a look at.

Thanks for listening.

 

[NFrameFred]

That's pretty cool, in my book. A lot of arm chair experts these days like to take Keith to task for inconsistencies in his writings, but most of them would have to stand on their momma's shoulders to kiss his rear end.

I don't doubt he lived the life he said he did and getting a few of the details mixed up after the years have settled behind you isn't as uncommon as we who are getting long in the tooth would like to believe.

Opinionated ? Yes - I wouldn't give a bucket of warm spit for a man who wasn't. But he lived in a different time and place and spanned a time with his life that I doubt any will ever have a chance to experience the like. A very present force in handgunning history.

 

[Pop's2]

That's pretty neat; thanks for the post. There are a couple of letters I wish I had saved.

 

[Xfuzz]

All of Elmers published stories had to be heavily edited.

 

[scorvers]

That is awesome!!! It was maybe 8 years later that I first read Mr. Keiths' autobiography. I've probably read it another 10 times since. I still have that book and remember mourning his passing.

 

[redlevel]

Most excellent!

 

[whitecoyote]

All I can say is "WOW"! What an excellent story.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Texas Star]

Well, I can tell you, Elmer was a nicer man than was Warren Page, to whom I wrote at the age that you wrote to Keith.

Jack O'Connor was also polite in letters, although I've heard that he could be acerbic in person. I suspect that a lot of it had to do with who he was talking to or reading a letter from. He had limited tolerance for the semi-literate. He was a former Journalism professor, and not too fond of people whom he considered lacking in accomplished communication skllls.

I knew Elmer later in person, and he was a nice guy, I think. One of my fonder memories is sharing a breakfast table with him a year or two before his stroke. It is true that he lacked grammar and spelling skills, and had to be heavily edited. He could also be a little earthy in speech, but wasn't a bad guy.

He and O'Connor had their issues, and I think a lot of that had to do with each resenting the other's social level.

Askins resented O'Connor gettting a job at Outdoor Life that Askins's father had held, and still needed. I met Askins only a few times, although he was cordial on those occasions. He was nice, if slightly curt, in a few letters before we met. I believe that his letter writing courtesy was just influenced by the need to be brief if he was to keep up with his mail. Some of that applied to Page, but he was apt to be a little "short" if in a bad mood. My being 13 then probably led me to write to him more than I should have. I'm sure that he had more to do than answer reader mail. (Actually, he pointed that out to me...)

I have kept some letters from O'Connor, Cooper, et al. Sometimes, I re-read one that I've tucked into their books.

Bill Jordan was another nice guy, very polite and informative.
He let me play with his guns on a few occasions, and I treasure my copies of his books.

Peter Capstick was also as drolly funny in person as he was in print. I still have one of his letters, too.

Most of the current gunwriters just seem to come over as commercially- oriented shills for the ad departments of their publications. One of the few whom I'd like to meet is Brian Pearce. He's probably the closest that we now have to Elmer Keith, although he is more sophisticated. But that's a good thing, in the way that I mean it.

T-Star

 

[cubguy]

Very cool! Treasure it.

 

[Krull]

Well, I can tell you, Elmer was a nicer man than was Warren Page, to whom I wrote at the age that you wrote to Keith.

Jack O'Connor was also polite in letters, although I've heard that he could be acerbic in person. I suspect that a lot of it had to do with who he was talking to or reading a letter from. He had limited tolerance for the semi-literate. He was a former Journalism professor, and not too fond of people whom he considered lacking in accomplished communication skllls.

I knew Elmer later in person, and he was a nice guy, I think. One of my fonder memories is sharing a breakfast table with him a year or two before his stroke. It is true that he lacked grammar and spelling skills, and had to be heavily edited. He could also be a little earthy in speech, but wasn't a bad guy.

He and O'Connor had their issues, and I think a lot of that had to do with each resenting the other's social level.

Askins resented O'Connor gettting a job at Outdoor Life that Askins's father had held, and still needed. I met Askins only a few times, although he was cordial on those occasions. He was nice, if slightly curt, in a few letters before we met. I believe that his letter writing courtesy was just influenced by the need to be brief if he was to keep up with his mail. Some of that applied to Page, but he was apt to be a little "short" if in a bad mood. My being 13 then probably led me to write to him more than I should have. I'm sure that he had more to do than answer reader mail. (Actually, he pointed that out to me...)

I have kept some letters from O'Connor, Cooper, et al. Sometimes, I re-read one that I've tucked into their books.

Bill Jordan was another nice guy, very polite and informative.
He let me play with his guns on a few occasions, and I treasure my copies of his books.

Peter Capstick was also as drolly funny in person as he was in print. I still have one of his letters, too.

Most of the current gunwriters just seem to come over as commercially- oriented shills for the ad departments of their publications. One of the few whom I'd like to meet is Brian Pearce. He's probably the closest that we now have to Elmer Keith, although he is more sophisticated. But that's a good thing, in the way that I mean it.

T-Star

I've read most of those guy's work when I was a kid in the 80's,thing that gets me about what you say is they are writers so you have to expect people to want to talk to you,that said I believe most of the real old timers just loved the outdoors and hunting and turned it into a job,probably didn't occur to them that they'd have to listen to folks wanting to yak at them!

I'd have liked to meet any of them and one you didn't mention-Skeeter Skelton,that'd been a hoot!

I'd like to write books myself,I know if it works I'll have people bugging me,which is fine,basically what you see-anywhere,is what you get with me.

And OP you got some nice memories with that letter,I never wrote anybody,too shy.

 

[n4zov]

Thanks for sharing that letter! Like you I wrote a letter to a well known writer back in my teenage years, and I still have it stuck in one of his books. Townsend Whelen was camping editor for Sports Afield and a pretty old guy when I wrote him with a question about some boots I wanted to buy. He wrote a nice answer and even drew a little sketch of the tread design he preferred. Whelen was not only a gentleman of the old school but a firearms authority with heavy duty credentials.

 

[Memphis]

That letter is too cool! The first person I though of after reading the part about 40 letters piled up was our own Roy Jinks. I hope we never take for granted all he does for us.
I sure have enjoyed reading about Elmer. What a most interesting character he was.

Roger

 

[jubela#4]

That is a great letter! Even better that it came to you as a youngster.

That is a great treasure in my mind as I love reading Elmer's books.
My favorite book of his is Safari, a rare book as not many were printed and when/if you find one they are usually expensive.

 

[indiuckian]

Very cool

I guess this is the sixgunners equivalant of finding an old jacket you forgot about and there being a $100 dollar bill inside! Congrats.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

That is really something. Thanks for sharing it with us. As far as newer gun writers go, I like Brian Pearce, too. My favorite (with a ton of dissagrements here) is Mike Venturino. A freind of his asked if I could visit him when I was in Livingston, Mt. in 1988. He was the most gracious guy and took me downstairs and showed me a bunch of his sixguns. He said we'd go shooting but he had his Sharps out and was getting ready to go to a Raton match. He showed me his Triplelock Target and old K-32, among various Colt SAA's. Just a really great guy.
It's great that Keith wrote you and I like his "inarticulateness" if I can be so inarticulate. It just seems honest and unpretentious.

 

[bk43]

Wonderful letter that shows the man had a lot of class. Some grammer issues but the "spelling" errors are keystoke errors that look to signal a dexterity problem. Perhaps arthritis which afflicted a lot of old shooters or his childhood injuries coming back to haunt him...don't know enough about him to really say.

Bob

 

[Texas Star]

I've read most of those guy's work when I was a kid in the 80's,thing that gets me about what you say is they are writers so you have to expect people to want to talk to you,that said I believe most of the real old timers just loved the outdoors and hunting and turned it into a job,probably didn't occur to them that they'd have to listen to folks wanting to yak at them!

I'd have liked to meet any of them and one you didn't mention-Skeeter Skelton,that'd been a hoot!

I'd like to write books myself,I know if it works I'll have people bugging me,which is fine,basically what you see-anywhere,is what you get with me.

And OP you got some nice memories with that letter,I never wrote anybody,too shy.

I only met Skeeter once, as I recall, but he was very cordial, in spite of having a problem swallowing. (He later died of complications from surgery on this obstruction.)

He corrected me when I said that I'd read his material from about 1958. I think he said that his first story was in 1959, but we remembered it as being the same article, so I did read him from the first. He was a very practical writer, the sort that Shooting Times badly needs to have now.

T-Star

 

[Frank237]

Very nice. Talk about a FIND.

Of the new writers I can speak well of John Barsness and Mike Venturino. Both Montana boys, very polite and down to earth. I see them both at gun shows from time to time and we have some mutual friends.

Keith ...they broke the mold after Mr. Keith for sure.

FN in MT

A visit I made with him in 1980 IIRC.

 

[mtgianni]

Frank is on the money with Mr's Barsness & Venturino. Both are down to earth and cordial.

I would put the letter from Keith in the best frame I could afford with professional matting and hang it where i could see it daily.

 

[Gregor]

Wonderful letter that shows the man had a lot of class. Some grammer issues but the "spelling" errors are keystoke errors that look to signal a dexterity problem. Perhaps arthritis which afflicted a lot of old shooters or his childhood injuries coming back to haunt him...don't know enough about him to really say.

Bob

In the book, "Letters From Elmer Keith" by T.J. Mullin, Elmer had fat fingers and would hit keys he did not intend to, thus the spelling errors. He answered 300-500 letters a month by himself with no help in addition to all his other work.