Bent Poles And Tight Lines

For years, veteran Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Charles Salter roamed the state in his 1975 Chevy station wagon in search of the most offbeat characters to appear in his celebrated column, "The Georgia Rambler." From tall tales of the Okefenokee Swamp, to treasure hunters of Duluth and ex-moonshiners of North Georgia, Salter's stories are as eclectic and extraordinary as the people he interviewed. Along the way, he discovered the alleged original recipe for Coca-Cola in the pages of an old pharmacist's book, a find that inspired an episode of award-winning radio show This American Life. Read these remarkable stories and more in this never-before-published compilation of the best of "The Georgia Rambler."

An account of one year in the Yaak Valley wilderness range, by the acclaimed naturalist and memoirist. Beginning with his family settling in for the long northwestern Montana winter, and capturing all the subtle harbingers of change that mark each passing month—the initial cruel teasing of spring, the splendor and fecundity of summer, and the bittersweet memories evoked by fall—this is a beautiful evocation of the “fauna, flora and folks” in this rugged and spectacular landscape (Publishers Weekly, starred review). It is full of rich observation about what it takes to live in the valley—toughness, improvisation and, of course, duct tape. The Wild Marsh is also poignant, especially as the author reflects on what it means for his young daughters to grow up surrounded by the strangeness and wonder of nature. He shares with them the Yaak’s little secrets—where the huckleberries are best in a dry year, where to find a grizzly’s claw marks in an old cedar—and discovers that passing on this intimate local knowledge, the knowledge of home, is a kind of rare and valuable love. Bass emerges not just as a writer but as a father, a neighbor, and a gifted observer, uniquely able to bring us close to the drama and sanctity of small things, ensuring that though the wilderness is increasingly at risk, the voice of the wilderness will not disappear. “A work of wonder, praise, and thanksgiving for all the marvels of nature, where every aspect is connected and every process has its place. Bass, grounding his book in science well, takes the facts and transforms them, as a musician transforms musical notes, into a work of great beauty. This walk through a year is a walk through the author’s soul, filled with passions, dreams, fears, and the exuberance of Walt Whitman.” —School Library Journal, starred review “Whether the topic is a forest fire in his front yard or the excitement of the first tiny cheerful glacier lilies in spring, Rick Bass is a stirring companion on the trail that leads west from the Walden Pond of Henry David Thoreau and the Sand County of Aldo Leopold.” —Ivan Doig, author of The Whistling Season

This book is about my life experiences and also contains the stories I have heard my folks tell while sitting on the front porch after supper. For many years, my maternal grandfather lived with us. He and my dad would swap interesting stories about times when they were growing up and farming with oxen and mules. They talked about the "dummy line" railroads that ran through the forest near our home and told their childhood tales and many other stories I would long for later in life. I wanted to pass this and my life stories down to my descendants. Many interesting stories were told in the serene setting of the front porch deep in the country, with only the interruptions of whippoorwills, hoot owls, screech owls, and such making pleasant noises in the distant woods. ... I hope that this book will inspire future generations in some way to understand the important things in life. It's been said that the best things are free, and I learned that one only has to make necessary efforts to obtain a peaceful, happy, and fulfilling life.

This book gets you into the action fast, no matter what kind of fish you are after --redfish, snook, cobia, snapper, flounder even tarpon.

As he began to dump his grandfather’s body in the channel off the coast of Uwajima, a dazzling white light seared the entire western horizon on an August morning, 1945, in southern Japan. Moments later, a rumbling wave of hot air rolled over Fuyuki. The lightning light and the rumbling hot wind foretold the fifteen-year-old fisherman that his miserable life was now going to become intolerable. Ten thousand miles away on the western side of the International Date Line, below the equator, in the port city of Valparaiso, Chile, a tall young man, Paul, was playing canasta with his grandfather, father, and brother at an old inn when the doors from the kitchen sprang open and his mother walked out and asked his grandfather, “What’s an atomic bomb, Dad?” On that same Monday evening, as Paul was playing cards at Zona del Pescar, 4,000 miles away, north of the equator on the island of Cuba, a pretty young lady, about twelve years old, asked her father, “What’s an ‘automatic’ bomb?” “Never heard of it. Why do you ask, Patricia?” “It was on the radio.” And so began a chain reaction that would culminate December 1963 for Patricia and Paul.

Includes entries for maps and atlases.