Friends from the Sporting Road

Much like Hemingway, I’ve spent much of my life traveling, and these journeys have deepened my appreciation for beauty, nature, and lasting treasures. This passion has turned me into an avid collector of unique objects from around the world as well as recipes.  I try to inspire people to embrace a life of adventure and revive the dreams of their childhood—dreams of exploring jungles, oceans, deserts, and mountains. Some will pursue this adventurous spirit through their imagination, consuming books, stories, and social media, while others will be motivated to venture out into the world themselves. Ultimately, it’s about embracing the spirit of adventure with one’s heart, as that’s where I believe the essence of life on the Sporting Road truly lies.

First, our four-legged friends make our adventures on the Sporting Road possible.

Second, we have made a lot of two-legged friends along the Sporting Road as well.  Here’s a list of just a few of them:

Jim Fergus

G. Marvin Beeman, MFH and DVM, Arapahoe Hunt

Rim Chung, master nymph fisherman and inventor of the RS2, Plebby and Avatar

Barry Conyers, an extraordinary and creative fly tier who loved teaching people how to fly fish and enjoyed teaching his daughter to tie pink flies.

The Dennehys, inlcuding Wilson Dennehy who along with George Morris, built upon the Gordon Wright and Bert de Nemehy mehods.  Which were also similar to those of Bill Steinkraus, and his mentors ofof the same as well as Frank Carroll and and Morton Cappy Smith, in formulating the modern American way of jumping.

Sylvia McDonald

Nick de Toldi of www.gourmetfly.com in France

Pat Dorsey

Buz Fawcett-wingshooter extraordinaire, instructor at his Wingshooting Workshoop in Idaho, and author of Instinctive Shooting

Mike Gould

Stephen Collector https://stephencollector.com/

John Hagen

Jane Hall

Roger Hill

Jeff Hill, Esq.

Gary Ruppel

Nick Sawyer

Frank Sawyer

Shane Stalcup, the foremost inventor of fly tying materials of our time, and author of several books on tying.  He was the fastest and most accurate commercial tyer I have ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot.  

Shawn Wayment, DVM

Len McDaniel

Paul McDaniel

Ferenc Horvath

Some of our favorite authors, other than those listed above and some of which are also friends or acquaintances, are:

A.K. Best

Pat Dorsey

Frederick M. Halford

Edward Hewitt

Oliver Kite

Migel/Wright

T. Donald Overfield

Jim Quick

G.E.M. Skues 

Bob Saile

Ray Ovington

Datus Proper

John Gierach

Terry Lawton

Paul Fauceglia

PatO’Reilly

Marty Bartholemew

Ernest Scweibert

Doug Swisher

John Voelkner

Ed Engle

Charles E. Brooks 

The Coors Family 

Shooting & Bird Dogs

Bill Tarrant

Michael McIntosh

Robert Churchill

Guy de la Valdene

Tom Huggler

Steven Rinella, author of Meat Eater, American Buffalo, and The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine

Joel M. Vance

Dennis Walrod

Charlie Waterman

Sir Joseph Nickerson

Mike Swan

Thomas Hugler

Robert Wehle

Buddy Levy

Lucky McDaniel

J. G. Ruffner

William Beebe

Ken Davies

Mike Jennings

Charles Fergus

Gene Hill

Paul A. Johnsgard

Eric Parker

Ben O. Williams

Corey Ford

Gordon MacQuarrie

Gene Hill, Burton

Brad O’Connor, son of the late Jack O’Connor

George Bird Evans , Nash Buckingham, Ray Holland, Peter Byrne, William Harnden Foster, Frank Woolner, Charlie Waterman, Joel Vance, William Faulkner, Theodore Roosevelt, and Zane Gray are those I wished I had met. 

Foxhunting and Show Jumping

R.S. Surtees

Joseph B. Thomas

Michael Clayton

George H. Morris

Count Toptani

Almet Jenks

Gordon Grand

Cecil Aldin

A.Henry Higginson

Duke of Beaufort

Benjamin H. Hardawy III

MelvinPoe

Sassoon

Gordon Wright

Jim Meads

Hugh Robards

Anne Kursinski

Vicky Moon

G. Marvin Beeman

Don O’Connor

Lt. Co.l. Harry D. Chamberlin

Lawrence Phipps III, MFH

Janet George

Polo

Peter Grace

Marco Polo

Hufh Dawnay

Rege Ludwig

Adolpho Cambiaso, Poroto and family

Robertito

The Ganzis

Uncle Martin Herrague

Philosophy

Confucius

Alan Watts

Robert M. Pirsig

D. T. Suzuki

Thomas Moore

Voltaire

Rousseau

Dali Lama

Lao Tzu

Kahlil Gibran

Travel

Peter Mayle

Rick Steves

Cooking and Cuisine

Auguste Escoffier

Thomas Keller

Steven Rinella

James Beard

Ferran Adria

Herve This

Joy of Cooking by Erma Rombauer

Barefoot Contessa

Silver Palate and The New Basics by Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso

 Grand Livre de Cuisine: Alain Ducasse’s Culinary Encyclopedia

Alexandre Dumas, Grand Dictionaire de Cuisine, who recommends deglazing a glass of white wine and a few drops of pastis

Mario Batali

Bobbie Flay 

Jacques Pepin (my favorite, rent all of the Jaques and Julia Series videos to see why, Jacques is not the stuffy one, Julia is and she’s not even French)

Martha Stewart’s Healthy Quick Cooking is her best selling title.

Stephen Rinella

Emeril Lagasse

Paula Deen

Ernest Hemingway

Jim Harrison

Hunter Thompson

Lawyers and Judges

Judge Richard Matsch

Tod Baker

The Poz

Gerry Spence

F. Lee Bailey

Walter Gerash

The Yegges

Guy de La Valdene on a big ranch east of Douglas, WY, in 2003.  Photo by Stephen Collector.