A Hunter In Paradise

"'Zeff Veronese is one of this country's longest and most respected chamois and tahr hunters ... His prowess with a rifle and camera have been long known and achieved national recognition within the New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association. The collection of absorbing tales and photographs this back country author has provided, strongly conveys honest passion for our wild places and a sincere respect for the game animals hunted'--Kevin J. Whitelaw, New Zealand's Hunting Legends. Why do I hunt? That is a very hard question to answer. Both my grandparents were hunters and so was my father, my brothers and some of my uncles. I grew up in Italy during the war and the years after, in very tough times. However, the hunting instinct was never far away ... When we arrived in New Zealand, we found it to be a goldmine for a hunter and made the most of it. The first ten years we hunted mainly for meat and always had a freezer full of game meat ... Perhaps the last 40 years I have mainly hunted for trophies. Sometimes when in a good spot for a few days, I might see 30 or 40 animals and as they have no trophy value I don't fire a shot but happily film the events. Hunting is still good for me because I enjoy being in the wild. Camaraderie is an important ingredient on a hunt; there is nothing better than being in a tent or a hut with friends who have the same interests and are happy to share their funny stories after a hard day in the mountains"--page [4] of cover.

The extraordinary story of the artists who propelled themselves to international fame in 1960s Los Angeles Los Angeles, 1960: There was no modern art museum and there were few galleries, which is exactly what a number of daring young artists liked about it, among them Ed Ruscha, David Hockney, Robert Irwin, Bruce Nauman, Judy Chicago and John Baldessari. Freedom from an established way of seeing, making, and marketing art fueled their creativity, which in turn inspired the city. Today Los Angeles has four museums dedicated to contemporary art, around one hundred galleries, and thousands of artists. Here, at last, is the book that tells the saga of how the scene came into being, why a prevailing Los Angeles permissiveness, 1960s-style, spawned countless innovations, including Andy Warhol's first exhibition, Marcel Duchamp's first retrospective, Frank Gehry's mind-bending architecture, Rudi Gernreich's topless bathing suit, Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider, even the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Doors, and other purveyors of a California style. In the 1960s, Los Angeles was the epicenter of cool.

First published in 1980. Paradise Lost was once a favourite text for family reading; today it is confined to the educational system, which treats it as an object to be investigated rather than a subject that demands response. Professor Hunter writes inevitably for an audience of literary students, but he invites them to consider Paradise Lost as a text that must be enjoyed before it can be explained. He understands the need to explain complexities, but is mainly concerned with the onward flow of our engagement with an ancient poem. Milton’s narrative technique is explored as a system which both encourages and frustrates our native sense of story. His poetic power is shown to grow from our assent to its brilliant evocation of "as if" fictions. Milton is a master of audience manipulation, of dramatic tension and intellectual paradox. These characteristics are described in the context of the task the poem sets itself to tell the untellable and describe what no man has ever seen. The power of Milton’s art is traced through his rehandling of Homer and Virgil and in his daringly individual fidelity to scripture. Professor Hunter does not try to smooth away the contradictions inherent in Milton’s ambition to write an English classical Christian epic. He rather stresses the contradictions as cues to a properly alert reading. And this is what the book aims at above all a response to Paradise Lost which is alert to poetry and unintimidated by scholarship.

Set in the 1980s near Yakutat, Alaska, Hunter's Paradise: The Homecoming is the story of the Bootans, owners of a sixty-thousand-acre outfitter and ranch, Paradise. Paradise is a land of splendor with virgin forests, lakes, and streams filled with the abundance of wildlife. The head of the family is the tough and hardened but godly man, former Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant John Bootan. He and his business partner, Dan Lupa, are professional hunting guides. They book fly-in clients from the United States and other countries for Alaskan big game hunting and fishing. John's outfitter team includes four nephews, their wives, a niece, and hired help. Whether their story takes you to the war scenes of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, the dangers of big game hunting, or the lost romances of their past, their courage and spirit exemplify the heart of a true American Christian family. In The Homecoming a thirteen-year tribulation continues involving John's oldest nephew Brandon. An emotionally torn veteran, who lost his most precious possessions before his Vietnam trauma: His faith in God, his wife to be, Marcy Lamore, and his dignity as a man. In a desperate search for a meaning and purpose in life, he is fostered by the sage wisdom of his Uncle John and the devoted love of his younger brother Bud. However, Bud's recent marriage to Elaine Petry is a threat to Brandon, fearing that she has taken Bud away from him. In their homecoming to Paradise, a clash between husband and wife, between brother and brother, and between sister-in-law and brother-in-law unfold. To save his family from destruction, Brandon seeks refuge at Little Splendor, land also owned by the Bootans. Months later after leaving Paradise, Brandon learns of a hunting disaster involving Bud and quickly joins his family for a search and rescue. It becomes a long journey back home for the Bootans as they struggle with the natural elements, their fellow man, and ultimately with themselves.

The Culture of Hunting in Canada covers elements of the history of hunting from the pre-colonial period until the present in all parts of Canada and features essays by practitioners and scholars of hunting and by pro- and anti-hunting lobbyists. The result crosses the boundaries between scholarship and personal reflection, and between academia and advocacy. Topics include hunting identities; conservation and its relationship to hunting; tensions between hunters and non-hunters and between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal hunting groups; hunting ethics; debates over hunting practices and regulations; animal rights; and gun control. This book makes an unprecedented contribution to the study of hunting in Canada and its role in our culture.