Old Man’s Boy Grows Up

The year 1957 marked the publication of Robert Ruark’s best seller, The Old Man and the Boy, a tale of “infinite warmth and wisdom, love and understanding “ It told of the Boy, Ruark himself, and the Old Man, his grandfather, as they roamed the North Carolina outdoors together, savoring the sights, sounds, and smells of the earth. As they explored the woods and fished the streams, the Old Man talked and the Boy listened. And as he listened, the Boy learned.

The Old Man is now gone from the earth, but not from the memory of the Boy. In the pages of the present book, THE OLD MAN’S BOY GROWS OLDER, the Boy has grown up to new adventures, to college, to a seaman’s berth on a North Atlantic freighter, to African safaris, and treks to the world’s far corners—and to other dogs and boys who now follow him. But the Old Man is still there. He is there in anecdotal memories awakened by the sight of a tiger in Africa, a dog in Spain, or by the tantalizing smell of a hearty meal prepared over an outdoor fire. The echoes of the Old Man’s patient instruction, his gentle humor, and his warm companionship are here again, guiding the Boy as he meets his adult problems and adventures.

Today Robert Ruark is world famous as a newspaper columnist and author, big-game hunter and world traveler. His eight books, ranging from the hilarious Grenadine Etching to the realism of his best-selling novels, Something of Value and Poor No More, have won him a wide and faithful audience. Those who are already familiar with the “outdoor Ruark” will again find a wealth of entertaining and instructive lore, a poetic and nostalgic reliving of the seasons on these pages. Those readers, young and old, who have not yet looked into this corner of Ruark’s world are new in for a delightful discovery.