Robert Ruark (December 29, 1915 in
Wilmington, North Carolina – July 1, 1965 in London, England) was an American author, syndicated columnist, and
big game hunter.
Early life
Born Robert Chester Ruark, Jr., to Charlotte A. Ruark and Robert C. Ruark, a bookkeeper for a wholesale grocery, young Ruark grew up in
Wilmington, North Carolina. His brother, David, was adopted, and little is known about him. The Ruark family was deeply affected by the Depression, but still managed to send Robert to college. He graduated early from
New Hanover High School
New Hanover High School is a high school located in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. New Hanover High is the oldest existing high school in Wilmington.Steelman, Ben"What is the History of New Hanover High School?"StarNews. MyReporter. 3 Mar. 2 ...
, and enrolled in the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at age 15. His studies included a few
journalism classes but did not gain a degree.
Early career
In the 1930s, Ruark was fired from an accounting job in the
Works Progress Administration, and did a hitch in the
United States Merchant Marine. He worked for two small town newspapers in
North Carolina: the ''Hamlet News Messenger'' and, later, the ''
Sanford Herald
''The Sanford Herald'' is a newspaper published Tuesdays through Saturdays in Sanford, North Carolina. The Sanford Herald has a daily circulation of just over 9,000 and is published Tuesday through Saturday, and has published continuously since 1 ...
''.
In 1936, Ruark moved to
Washington, D.C., and was hired as a
copy boy
A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...
for ''
The Washington Daily News'', a
Scripps-Howard
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...
newspaper. In just a few months he was the paper's top sports reporter.
During
World War II, Ruark was commissioned an ensign in the
United States Navy, and served ten months as a gunnery officer on
Atlantic and
Mediterranean convoys.
Marriage
In 1938, Ruark married Virginia Webb, an
interior designer from an upper-middle-class family in the
Washington, D.C., area, and a graduate of
Georgetown University. They divorced in 1963, and had no children. Virginia Webb-Ruark died in 1966.
Writing career
Upon his return to Washington, Ruark joined the
Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance. As his
obituary
An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...
in ''
The New York Times'' stated, Ruark was "sometimes glad, sometimes sad, and often mad — but almost always provocative." Some of his columns were eventually collected into two books, ''I Didn't Know It Was Loaded'' (1948) and ''One for the Road'' (1949).
As he became recognized, Ruark began to write fiction, first for literary magazines, and then his first novel, ''Grenadine Etching'', in
1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...
. The novel parodied the popular historical romances of the time and set the stage for his many humorous novels and articles published in the ''
Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'', ''
Esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'', and other popular publications.
African safari
After enjoying some success as a writer, Ruark decided that it was time to fulfill a lifelong dream to go on
safari
A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
to Africa, fueled by his doctor's advice to have a year's rest. Legendary
Ker and
Downey Downey may refer to:
People
*Downey (surname)
*Robert Downey Jr.
Places
*Downey, California, US
*Downey, Idaho, US
*Downey, Iowa, US
Businesses
*W. & D. Downey, photographic studio
*Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant
Schools
* ...
Safaris booked him with
Harry Selby, and Ruark began a love affair with Africa. Ruark was booked with Selby because of a desire to use a tracker named Kidogo, who had once hunted with Ruark's friend,
Russell B. Aitken
Russell may refer to:
People
* Russell (given name)
* Russell (surname)
* Lady Russell (disambiguation)
* Lord Russell (disambiguation)
Places Australia
*Russell, Australian Capital Territory
*Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation)
**R ...
, when he was guided by white hunter, Frank Bowman. Ruark's pairing with Selby, though fortuitous, was pure chance. At the time of Ruark booking his safari, Kidogo had left Bowman and become a member of Selby's crew. Ruark requested to hunt with whichever white hunter Kidogo was working for.
As a result of this first safari, Ruark wrote a book called ''Horn of the Hunter'', in which he detailed his hunt. Selby became an overnight legend and was subsequently booked for up to five years in advance by Americans wishing to duplicate Ruark's adventures. After the first safari, Selby and Ruark again went hunting, and this time they took cameras along. The result was a one-hour documentary entitled ''Africa Adventure'', released by
RKO pictures. Though extremely difficult to find, a 16mm print of this movie was discovered in 2002, and a DVD copy was created and donated to the Robert Ruark Foundation in
Southport, North Carolina
Southport is a city in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States, near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Its population was 3,828 as of the 2018 census. The mayor is Joseph P. Hatem.
Southport is the location of the North Carolina Fourth of ...
. An online version was subsequently posted on a popular consumer streaming site.
In 1953, Ruark began writing a series for ''
Field & Stream'' magazine entitled ''The Old Man and the Boy''. Considered largely autobiographical (although technically fiction), this heartwarming series ran until late 1961. The stories were characterized by the philosophical musings of the ''Old Man'', who was modeled after both of Ruark's grandfathers, but mostly on Captain Edward "Ned" Hall Adkins, Ruark's maternal grandfather. In the stories, young Bob Ruark grows up hunting and fishing in coastal North Carolina, always guided by the Old Man. However, the pain of his parents' difficult domestic life and his relatively few childhood friends (Ruark, something of a child prodigy in school, was a loner) are tellingly absent from the narratives. Many of the stories were collected into a book of the same name, followed shortly thereafter by a companion book entitled ''The Old Man's Boy Grows Older''. Today these two books are probably his best remembered works. Twenty stories were also published in the book ''Robert Ruark's Africa''.
Ruark's first bestselling novel was published in 1955. Entitled ''Something of Value'', it describes the
Mau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...
by
Kenyan
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
rebels against British rule. The novel drew from the author's personal knowledge and experiences on safari in
Africa, and was adapted into a 1957 film, ''
Something of Value''. ''Uhuru'', a novel with a similar theme, but not intended to be a sequel, was published in 1962. "
Uhuru" is the Swahili word for ''freedom''. The book apparently libeled a particular politician in Kenya, and while Ruark was in Nairobi after its publication, staying at the New Stanley Hotel, he learned that a law suit had been filed against him by this politician. Before he could be served papers, however, he was tipped off, and he fled overnight to South Africa by air. He had intended to write a final book in the series with the working title of "A Long View From a Tall Hill," but this never materialized.
Last years
After his first half dozen books or so, Ruark continued to write, though few of his later novels matched his earlier successes. In 1960, after a bittersweet visit to his hometown of
Wilmington, North Carolina, Ruark left the U.S. for good. He lived in London and
Barcelona, before settling in
Sant Antoni de Calonge
Sant Antoni de Calonge is a town which forms part of the city of Calonge. It is located in the ''comarca'' of the Baix Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. The town was built along the rocky coastline of northern Spain. There is a seaside promenade tha ...
in
Catalunya,
Spain. Shortly before his death, he wrote a final article which later appeared in ''
Playboy'' and was titled "Nothing Works and Nobody Cares." He died in London, England, on July 1, 1965, of
cirrhosis of the liver brought on by
alcoholism.
His last novel, ''The Honey Badger'', exemplified the condition of the author at this time in his life. The book was published posthumously, as was ''Use Enough Gun'', which is essentially a collection of excerpts from his earlier works. More notable are the two collections published by McIntosh and Casada, which are representative of the author's finest work.
Robert Ruark is buried in
Palamós
Palamós () is a town and municipality in the Mediterranean Costa Brava, located in the ''comarca'' of Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Palamós is located at the northern end of a large bay. The town is by-passed by th ...
in the
Province of Girona
Girona (; es, Gerona ; french: Gérone) is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the ...
in
Catalunya,
Spain.
Bibliography
*''Grenadine Etching'' (1947)
*''I Didn't Know It Was Loaded'' (1949)
*''One for the Road'' (1949)
*''Grenadine's Spawn'' (1952)
*''Horn of the Hunter'' (1953)
*
*''Something of Value'' (1955)
*''The Old Man and the Boy'' (1957)
*''Poor No More'' (1959)
*''The Old Man's Boy Grows Older'' (1961)
*''Uhuru'' (1962)
*''The Honey Badger'' (1965)
*''Use Enough Gun: On Hunting Big Game'' (1966)
*''Women'' (1967)
*''Robert Ruark's Africa'' by Michael McIntosh (1991), a collection of Ruark's magazine articles
*''The Lost Classics'' (1996), additional hunting adventures
Filmography
*''Africa Adventure'' (1955–56), narrator, writer, and director
References
Further reading
* ''Someone of Value: A Biography of Robert Ruark'', Hugh Foster (2001)
* ''A View from a Tall Hill: Robert Ruark in Africa'', Terry Wieland (2004)
* ''Ruark Remembered: By the Man Who Knew Him Best'', Alan Ritchie (2007)
External links
The Robert Ruark Societyprovides some insight on Ruark's life and family backgroundThe Life and Writing of Robert Ruark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruark, Robert
1915 births
1965 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
American hunters
American male novelists
Esquire (magazine) people
Novelists from North Carolina
Works Progress Administration workers
Writers from Wilmington, North Carolina