"I'll take full responsibility"

Not me.

An Inquiry into Market Values and Philosophy of Bay Area radio in the '90s

Totally, totally not me:

back in the 1990s, in college, our friend ed park liked this particular song tom cochrane’s “life is a highway.” before he mentioned it, i had never heard of it. why? did that song simply never get big in the bay area when it came out? otherwise, was it not played either on alternative radio or else hip.hop radio? you see, the bay area went through much of the early 1990s without a top 40 radio station. did you realise that?

"The Late, Great Ed Park"

Last Tuesday, I posted a "Not Me"—a link to an article by Ed Park about hunting as a "green" activity—and, later, a "Totally Not Me," which listed the table of contents from a 1965 copy of True, The Man's Magazine." (EP had written a piece called "Shoot Swans? Why Not!"—perhaps satire?!)

I didn't know it, but this Ed Park—judoist, Korean War vet, outdoors writer—passed away last Tuesday. From his very interesting obituary:

Raised in Portland, Park was just out of high school and working as a fire lookout on Black Butte in 1948 when he wrote his first outdoor story.

The account of a bobcat attacking Park’s dog was rejected by Outdoor Life magazine, but Park persisted, writing and publishing thousands of articles for nearly 100 publications.

It's an odd feeling for me, reading this obit—every line is strange, or sad, or strangely sad:

“Ed was fascinated with nature; he was interested in every little thing,” Lewis said.

“I was astounded I’d be getting a call from Ed Park,” Monroe said. “I cut my teeth on Ed Park when I was in Vietnam. That’s what we’d do, read the big outdoors magazines, Field & Stream, Sports Afield, Outdoor Life, and Ed was writing for all of them,” he said.

Here's another tribute, more personal, from The Source Weekly. (And here's an old interview with Ed Park (I think I already posted this.)

This article confirms what I only recently suspected—that this Ed Park had written The World of the Otter, a book I bought earlier this year:


(There's an article about otters in literature that I am—seriously—contemplating writing.)

Also: I am now pretty sure that he is the author, with Lue Park, of 1992's The Smoked Foods Cookbook, copies of which were prominently displayed next to Personal Days at my Brooklyn B&N reading.

* * *

After suffering a stroke in 1991, Ed wrote his articles with one finger.

* * *

For a while, I believed that there were at least three authorial Ed Parks—the article writer, the cookbook writer, and the man behind The World of the Otter (and The World of the Bison). I liked having this unlikely fraternity...It is weird to say this, but I will miss him.

—Ed Park

Swan song

From True magazine, Nov. 1965:

TRUE'S WHO: ARTHUR HERZOG: The Great Society's Happiest Warrior.
HUNTING: ED PARK: Shoot Swans? Why Not!.
SPORTS: RON SMITH: Waiting for Looney.
AUTOMOTIVE: CHARLES N. BARNARD: The Case of the Scrambled Cadillacs.
SCIENCE: MAX GUNTHER: Our Big Robot Reach To Find Life in Space.
NATURE: DANIEL P. MANNIX: Treasure Trove of Backyard Pearls.
GUNS: RUSSELL BARNETT AITKEN: Rifles Go Ritzy.

HUMOR: JOHNNY CARSON: Happiness Is a Dry Martini.

I could not tell

From Dzyd Paul:

"What is said about Ed Park?"

"Well, they say he accepts bribes."

"The people say Ed Park accepts bribes?"

"Yes, sir."

"What is Ed Park's standing in relation to money? How much money does he seem to have?"

"I could not tell. He owns a good many automobiles, two houses and lots, and big diamonds, and his wife dresses very elaborate."

"What kind of automobile has he got?"

"He has one Winton Six, and a Studebaker, and I heard he had a Buick."

—"Smuggling of Asiatics" (!), Industrial Relations: Final Report and Testimony, 1916

Totally not me

Totally not me!