John, excellent post - informative and thought-provoking. I particularly liked the comment "...sometimes the writing is as entertaining as gnawing on a stump". Among my many other shortcomings, I liked to be entertained while learning. Back in the days when "In-Fisherman" was a real magazine, they had some writers who could make their point in a fashion that kept you reading while others fell into the "gnawing on a stump" category. Heading off in another direction, I think that the constant effort to come up with something "new" (or deathly fear of saying something that has perhaps been said before) is one of the factors in what is constantly decried as the decline of the Wolfe publications. I for one don't mind being reminded of things that I already knew (or was supposed to know). At this stage in the game, I forget enough stuff to keep a lot of things fresh when they come around again.
