Book Review: Bamboozled by a Bobcat

My parents were avid readers and always subscribed to a variety of newspapers and magazines. Outdoor Life and Field & Stream were two of my favorites, but I enjoyed reading anything about hunting and fishing.

Over the years, I frequently ran across Glynn Harris’s outdoor stories and enjoyed his humorous and folksy writing style. Then, about twenty years ago, I became an outdoor writer myself and joined the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association (LOWA). One of the first people to welcome me was none other than Glynn Harris.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Harris and I shared so much in common. He grew up near Goldonna, Louisiana, hunting and fishing on Saline Bayou and Molido Creek while I grew up about ten miles away, as the crow flies, on Dugdemona River and Big Creek. We both lived the typical country boy lifestyle, although Harris started out a bit before me.

Harris is one of the friendliest and most laid-back people you will meet, and you’d never know that he is a legend in the outdoor writing world. Most of us can only dream of accomplishing what he has.

Harris has written for such prestigious magazines as my old favorites Outdoor Life and Field & Stream and has won more than sixty Excellence in Craft awards from LOWA, the Outdoor Writers Association of America and the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association. His entertaining and informative articles have also garnered him LOWA’s prestigious Arthur Van Pelt Lifetime Achievement Award, the Sports Legends of North Louisiana award and induction into the Louisiana Chapter of Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame.

From an early age, Harris knew that he wanted to become a writer. Fortunately, his aunt, Lillian Montgomery, was also his high school English teacher and encouraged him to follow his heart.

Harris’s dream came true in 1972 when he began writing a weekly outdoor column for Homer’s The Guardian Journal under the pen name “Uncle Zeke from Beaver Creek.” He has never looked back and today, at the age of eighty-five, continues to write a weekly column for numerous newspapers and magazines, is a regular contributor to the Louisiana Sportsman magazine, and hosts a weekly radio show on ESPN97.7.

After years of prodding from family and friends, Harris has now published a personal memoir titled Bamboozled by a Bobcat: A Louisiana Boy’s Dirt Road Recollections. It is a collection of stories that will appeal to anyone who had a similar rural upbringing or who appreciates a good story and thoughtful reflections.

As a boy, Harris’s home did not have running water or electricity, and the only toilet was an outhouse some distance from the doorstep. Nonetheless, he had a great childhood playing with his brother and cousins, fishing and swimming in nearby Molido Creek and running barefoot around the neighborhood.

Harris’s parents were instrumental in developing his passion for the outdoors. His mother enjoyed birding and passed that love on to her children, while his father was a state predator control officer. Harris often tagged along with him as he trapped bobcats and red wolves. The book’s title comes from an incident when he unexpectedly encountered an angry bobcat that was caught in his father’s trap.

Harris seems to have attracted ticked off predators; he also had a close encounter with red wolves. One day he and his brother accompanied their father to eradicate some red wolves in Tensas Parish. The boys’ job was to lure the pack in by howling like wolves while their father and another man hid in the woods to ambush the canines.

In colorful style, Harris tells how the agitated wolves somehow avoided the ambush and came tearing toward the boys who were perched on the hood of a jeep. Fortunately, his brother fired a pistol and scared the wolves away.

Then there are the tales about hog slaughtering time; country church revivals; scary moments; courting his lovely wife, Kay; his Air Force days and much more. As he recounts his life’s ups and downs, Harris’s strong faith in God and his love for music, guitar playing in particular, shine through his storytelling.

Bamboozled by a Bobcat is an entertaining book that is filled with funny, interesting and inspirational stories. It would be a perfect gift for Mother’s and Father’s Day and can be purchased from Amazon. For an autographed copy, send a check for $18 to Glynn Harris, P.O. Box 1103, Ruston, LA 71273.  

Dr. Terry L. Jones is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. For a $25 autographed copy of “Louisiana Pastimes,” a collection of the author’s stories, contact him at tljones505@gmail.com