Hard Head I and Other Outdoor Stories

Lowell Press , 1980. First Edition. Hard cover. Like New/Very Good. 9x6x1. These warm and witty stories are of hunting, fishing, field trips, float tripping, camping and Heady's all-around enjoyment of the great outdoors. The central character in this book is Hard Head, the wide-running Irish setter who was an inseparable companion of the author for thirteen years. Together they hunted the Midwest, Hard Head busting the horizon and Heady trailing behind by a half a mile, muttering under his breath. Some evenings he stays at home and sits on the patio - watching purple martins sweep the sky clean of insects. Or he paddles an Ozark stream in a canoe, in the dead of winter, counting the giant sycamores that stand white and bare along the river. Many of Hady's trips are measured in sycamores rather than in miles. Appreciation of nature and a regard for conservation of our natural resources are dominant themes in Heady's writing, which is colorful in description and informal in structure. Ray Heady, born in Pittsburg, Kansas was one of America's most respected outdoor writers. A graduate of Pittsburg State University, Heady taught journalism for nine years in Kansas high schools. He then taught for two years each at the University of Kansas and the University of Oklahoma before joining the KANSAS CITY STAR. As Outdoor Editor, he won the Outdoor Writers of America Association's coveted Jade Award and the Sears Foundation National Wildlife Federation Award.