Ron Ellis is an accomplished nature writer with works including Cogan’s Woods, Brushes with Nature: The Art of Ron Van Gilder, and Of Woods & Waters: A Kentucky Outdoors Reader. His newest release, In That Sweet Country (Skyhorse Publishing),  is a collection of work by acclaimed nature writer, Harry Middleton.

Recently, Ellis took time to discuss his work with Southern Lit Review contributor, Philip K. Jason.

Can you tell us something about your selection process for In That Sweet Country?

Because all of Harry’s books have fly-fishing at their core, I knew I wanted to feature the uncollected work that speaks to his readers about that shared pleasure, along with a generous sampling of stories about hunting—“Gobblers in the Mist” and “Hard Winters and Crazy Birds” are two of my favorites. I also wanted readers to experience Harry’s writing about nature in general, which is always beautiful and informative. And since Harry’s self-acknowledged addictions were mountains and cold trout-water, they figured into the selection process, too. The cover painting, Boy Fishing by Winslow Homer, seemed the perfect visual representation, on so many levels, for Harry’s beloved “sweet country.”

Of the selections in this book, do you have any personal favorites?

I’m rather fond of “Downriver, Again,” “High-Country Trout,” and “A Hunting Dog’s Days Afield,” since these stories contain the “germs” of stories that Harry would build on for his first two books, The Earth Is Enough, his widely acknowledged masterpiece, and the superb On the Spine of Time. I also love “Buffalo River Sequence,” a rare poem from Harry, and his eloquent and magical nature essays, such as “Song of the Whippoorwill” and “Southern Lights.” 

What are the qualities of Harry Middleton’s writing that you most admire? (more…)

Reviewed by Philip K. Jason

When the celebrated nature writer, Harry Middleton, died in 1993, he left behind scores of uncollected periodical pieces published in such places as Field and Stream, the New York Times, Gray’s Sporting Journal, Sports Illustrated, and Southern Living – this latter magazine the home of Middleton’s “Outdoors South” column from 1984 until the beginning of 1991. Readers can applaud the dedication of Ron Ellis, who has brought together this generous selection of Middleton’s writings titled In That Sweet Country. If you enjoy hunting, fishing, and the great outdoors, you’ll want this book.

Harry Middleton knew the wild places and creatures of the American South with the intensity of a lover. As an outdoorsman, he was a patient observer, and his acute observations, transformed into a graceful and rhythmical poetic prose, bring us the full rush of his reverence for nature. For Middleton, man’s best self emerges from an intimacy with other living things and with the natural habitat.

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