Robert Ruark's The Old Man and the Boy

In February of 1953, Field & Stream magazine published the first in a series of articles by Robert Ruark entitled The Old Man and the Boy.  This column would continue to run for over eight years, then go on to become Ruark's masterpiece when several of the essays were released in book form. 

The book form of The Old Man and the Boy contained twenty-eight chapters, sometimes merging two and even three of the original Field & Stream articles to make one chapter.  The book was so successful that a sequel was produced, The Old Man's Boy Grows Older, which included another thirty chapters. Together, these books contain only around eighty of the original hundred-odd columns that ran.  Given that several columns were merged to form one book chapter, we are still left with a good number that have never been seen outside of the pages of Field & Stream. 

In 1995, Sporting Classics magazine released a collection of Ruark stories called The Lost Classics.  This gave us another ten of the missing stories, although I would argue that at least one of these was not "lost" after all, and is basically a reprint of a chapter of The Old Man and the Boy.  Nevertheless, we are still left with several missing chapters.

The goal of this project is to collect a copy of every issue of Field & Stream magazine from February of 1953 to November, 1961.  Once I've obtained a copy of every magazine, I will begin reading and discussing each article, until I've completed all 100+ of them.  This project actually began back in 1998, and only now, in 2006, am I able to return to complete it.  I expect it to run well into 2007 or 2008 before it is finished.

I understand going into this that between the two Old Man books and the Lost Classics, all of the stories may well be available now.  However, I've got to find out for myself.

"The Old Man knows pretty near close to everything" -- Robert Ruark

The Magazines
 

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

June

July

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

1953

no article

                      

1954

                        

1955

                        

1956

                        

1957

                        

1958

          

 

            

1959

                        

1960

                        

1961

        

no article

            

no article

Issues of Field & Stream that I own are highlighted in green


Month Year Original Title Chapter Title
February 1953 untitled It Takes a Gentleman
March 1953    
April 1953    
May 1953 untitled A Duck Looks Different to Another Duck
June 1953 untitled Not included in either book
July 1953 untitled  
August 1953    
September 1953    
October 1953    
November 1953    
December 1953    
January 1954    
February 1954    
March 1954 untitled Old Dogs and Old Men Smell Bad
April 1954    
May 1954    
June 1954    
July 1954    
August 1954    
September 1954    
October 1954    
November 1954    
December 1954    
January 1955    
February 1955    
March 1955    
April 1955    
May 1955    
June 1955    
July 1955    
August 1955 untitled Life Among the Giants
September 1955    
October 1955    
November 1955    
December 1955    
January 1956    
February 1956    
March 1956    
April 1956 untitled The Women Drive You to the Poolrooms
May 1956    
June 1956    
July 1956    
August 1956 untitled  
September 1956    
October 1956    
November 1956    
December 1956 untitled But Not on Opening Day
January 1957    
February 1957    
March 1957    
April 1957    
May 1957    
June 1957    
July 1957    
August 1957    
September 1957    
October 1957    
November 1957    
December 1957    
January 1958    
February 1958    
March 1958 Dogs, People, and the Pursuit of Happiness  
April 1958 The Babysitting was Fine Last Season  
May 1958 If You Can't Lick the Weather, Join It  
June 1958 For Young Men on the Edge of the Jungle  
July 1958    
August 1958    
September 1958 Dogs Could Pick Better People  
October 1958 Dark Magicians of the Camp Cookfire  
November 1958    
December 1958 The Smell of Christmas  
January 1959    
February 1959    
March 1959    
April 1959    
May 1959    
June 1959 Man Must Live with his Mistakes  
July 1959    
August 1959    
September 1959 The Measure of a Sportsman  
October 1959 October is Christmas Eve  
November 1959    
December 1959 Grab Your Hat and Go  
January 1960    
February 1960    
March 1960    
April 1960    
May 1960    
June 1960    
July 1960    
August 1960    
September 1960    
October 1960    
November 1960    
December 1960    
January 1961 The Day it Rained Wisdom  
February 1961 The Return of the Prodigal  
March 1961 A Man is What he Eats  
April 1961 A Model Young Man  
May 1961 no article  
June 1961 Hit 'em Where They Ain't  
July 1961 A Leopard in the Rain  
August 1961 Maybe We Should Shoot People  
September 1961 People Like Us Should Never Grow Up  
October 1961 Papa had no use for Sham  
November 1961 The Unspeakables  

 

The Old Man and The Boy Project is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Field & Stream magazine.  Field & Stream is a copyright of Time4 Media.   The Old Man and the Boy and The Old Man's Boy Grows Older are copyrights of Harold Matson, executor for the estate of Robert C. Ruark Jr.   The Lost Classics is a copyright of Live Oak Press.  All other text on this page is copyright 2003 by Sean Jeffries.