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Run Rainey Run
This is the story of a unique hunting dog and his owner - not master, for Ellis was never Rainey's master, only his associate. From Rainey, Ellis learned that life, all of it, is not a thing of years or months or even days. He learned that it is complete and entire at this instant, that Creation's most colossal mistake was making man so that he could not live like animals - for the heartbeat of now, for the breath being taken. This - plus great courage and wisdom - was what Rainey taught Ellis.
Paperback
Published January 1, 1972
12 people want to read
About the author
Mel Ellis
32 books8 followers Mel Ellis was a prolific, venerable writer and observer of the Wisconsin landscape. He crafted outdoor columns for The Milwaukee Journal for 15 years, wrote short stories, edited a field column for Field & Streeam for 12 years, penned magazine pieces for national media and three of his 18 books became Disney TV movies.
Ellis was Wisconsin born and bred. His "Notes From Little Lakes" columns from the Milwaukee Journal (1957-73) and the Wisconsin Sportsman (1976-82) chronicle nature observations and family life at an old frame house on 15 acres in Waukesha County. Ellis's columns and essays have been collected, edited and reissued in a new book you can savor in 10-minute respites and on long, winter nights. "Notes from Little Lakes" was published by The Cabin Bookshelf, Waukesha, late last year and should be available at bookstores statewide.
Ellis was Wisconsin born and bred. His "Notes From Little Lakes" columns from the Milwaukee Journal (1957-73) and the Wisconsin Sportsman (1976-82) chronicle nature observations and family life at an old frame house on 15 acres in Waukesha County. Ellis's columns and essays have been collected, edited and reissued in a new book you can savor in 10-minute respites and on long, winter nights. "Notes from Little Lakes" was published by The Cabin Bookshelf, Waukesha, late last year and should be available at bookstores statewide.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 7, 2009
Mel Ellis outdoors writer and editor, gives us a volume devoted to his partnership with Rainey, the remarkable dog who shared his life for ten years.
The book is well written, with lovely descriptions of cold, crisp mornings and brilliant sunsets. Unfortunately, the story, as prettily told as it is, left me cold. Ellis holds himself above Rainey, though Rainey, for all of being a canine, is clearly a superior creature. Rainey is smart, and not inclined to kowtow to Ellis simply because he's a human. Ellis regularly describes using corporal punishment as a "training" tool, and at one time he gets so angry at Rainey for destroying a material object that he strikes him with an arrow, burying the blade clear to the dog's hip-bone. He then wonders why Rainey isn't more affectionate.
As an outdoorsman, Ellis of course describes hunting and fishing trips in great detail, so if this is interesting to you, you will find much to love in Run, Rainey, Run. I have never been a supporter of blood sports, so these descriptions were not compelling to me; on the contrary, descriptions of days when Ellis kills 40 or more of a single type of bird read as excessive. A hunter or fisherman's mileage will obviously vary on this point.
The book is well written, with lovely descriptions of cold, crisp mornings and brilliant sunsets. Unfortunately, the story, as prettily told as it is, left me cold. Ellis holds himself above Rainey, though Rainey, for all of being a canine, is clearly a superior creature. Rainey is smart, and not inclined to kowtow to Ellis simply because he's a human. Ellis regularly describes using corporal punishment as a "training" tool, and at one time he gets so angry at Rainey for destroying a material object that he strikes him with an arrow, burying the blade clear to the dog's hip-bone. He then wonders why Rainey isn't more affectionate.
As an outdoorsman, Ellis of course describes hunting and fishing trips in great detail, so if this is interesting to you, you will find much to love in Run, Rainey, Run. I have never been a supporter of blood sports, so these descriptions were not compelling to me; on the contrary, descriptions of days when Ellis kills 40 or more of a single type of bird read as excessive. A hunter or fisherman's mileage will obviously vary on this point.
Displaying 1 of 1 review