CLEVELAND, Ohio – It is difficult to walk away from the most enjoyable, hands-on writing job in town.
After 38 years as the outdoors guy for The Plain Dealer, it's time to retire, although my byline might pop up from time to time. What I'll take with me are memories of so many adventures and a legion of interesting outdoors folks who were incredibly passionate about their sports.
Their tales and our experiences over the decades have taken me to the nooks and crannies of Ohio and some of the most beautiful places on earth. It has been everything a kid who loved to prowl the Cleveland breakwalls and farm ponds to catch a few fish could every hope to experience.
There are scribes covering the major sports that have never strapped on a helmet or tried a dunk, slap shot or drag bunt. In almost four decades as an outdoors reporter, though, there have been ample opportunities to cast a fly for steelhead trout, set the hook on a walleye, haul in a mess of yellow perch or fool a lunker largemouth bass.
I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in the woods and fields, tagging a few deer and wild turkeys. Sunrise in the duck marsh is a special time. Hunting with my bird dogs Dezzie and Bluebell are days well spent, and they're far from over.
Those adventures have always been in the quest of an informative, entertaining feature. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it after more than 40 years as a sportswriter for The Plain Dealer.
Read the rest of the final column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer here: http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2015/10/plain_dealer_outdoors_writer_d.html
After 38 years as the outdoors guy for The Plain Dealer, it's time to retire, although my byline might pop up from time to time. What I'll take with me are memories of so many adventures and a legion of interesting outdoors folks who were incredibly passionate about their sports.
Their tales and our experiences over the decades have taken me to the nooks and crannies of Ohio and some of the most beautiful places on earth. It has been everything a kid who loved to prowl the Cleveland breakwalls and farm ponds to catch a few fish could every hope to experience.
There are scribes covering the major sports that have never strapped on a helmet or tried a dunk, slap shot or drag bunt. In almost four decades as an outdoors reporter, though, there have been ample opportunities to cast a fly for steelhead trout, set the hook on a walleye, haul in a mess of yellow perch or fool a lunker largemouth bass.
I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in the woods and fields, tagging a few deer and wild turkeys. Sunrise in the duck marsh is a special time. Hunting with my bird dogs Dezzie and Bluebell are days well spent, and they're far from over.
Those adventures have always been in the quest of an informative, entertaining feature. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it after more than 40 years as a sportswriter for The Plain Dealer.
Read the rest of the final column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer here: http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2015/10/plain_dealer_outdoors_writer_d.html
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