Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A letter from Finn....

Here is a treasure I dug up while visiting Berit. Finn was writing a book, not sure which one, but apparently didn't like what the editor had done. Seems Finn took a real offense to printing something not exactly true with his name attached. Some folks would just go along, but it seems Finn was a man of his word. I am unsure who this was sent to, or the project this letter was involved in. I hope ya'll will enjoy.
Charlie

Very cool, Charlie.

Finn sure expressed his disappointment & frustration eloquently. Thank you for sharing, Charlie.

I had previously noticed that a couple of those examples seemed a little screwy; it is good to know why.

Aagaard is my favorite gun/hunting writer of all time.

Great letter Finn always said what he thought and believed so no doubt in my mind why he was irritated at a know nothing editor screwing with his work. Seems to me as I recall Ken Howell liked to stick his 2 cents worth in every article in Rifle and Handloader bet that didn't make any article authors happy either....mb

That is awesome. I can understand his consternation with the editor. He knew his PH friends and those that had “been there” would be his worst critics and didn’t want to be embarrassed by words he didn’t write. Classic Aagaard. 😊

I've never understood how an editor can "know" what a writer intends to say.

Shows that Finn was an honorable man.

Charle;
Good morning to you sir, I hope you and yours are keeping well, warm and dry and had a good Christmas.

Thanks so much for sharing that with us, I very much enjoyed reading it. It confirmed my opinion of him for sure.

Thanks again and Happy New Year.

Dwayne

It sure does. It's a good lesson for everyone. Not just writers and editors.

Very disappointed to learn that Aagaard's Africa was so altered from Finn's original wording, as I have just received a copy of that book. Now I will wonder if the events in the book happened as described. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to reading it.

There Ya Go,

I just checked my copy of AAGAARD'S AFRICA, inscribed to me by both Finn and Berit, with nice notes--though she signed it after Finn passed away, as I recall at a SHOT or SCI show. (Finn and I had swapped hunting books, probably my LIFE OF THE HUNT, which appeared about the same time.) Anyway, evidently Finn didn't see the book until it was already printed, as all the mistakes and ham-handed "editing" are in it.

This procedure is highly unusual. The normal deal is for the author to get to look over the edited manuscript and make addition changes or corrections before the book gets printed. Back when I was still writing books for other publishers, I always got to do this--except on one occasion, when the company publishing SHOTGUNS FOR WINGSHOOTING thought it needed to be on bookstore shelves by the end of summer in order to sell well. They'd already made a deal with Barnes and Noble, so I never got to see the edited copy, which did result in a few mistakes by the editor, though nothing like Finn's book.

Have encountered a few magazine editors who somehow feel qualified to rewrite manuscripts about stuff they know little or nothing about, but they worked for lower-paying magazines, so it wasn't difficult to simply not write for them again....

I'm not a writer of any sort, but the kind of stuff that was done to Finn with this book would seem way out of line, even to me. I am impressed that Finn was able to be as measured in his response as he was. I think I'd have been a LOT more angry than he let on. But then I'm a redhead, so...

Hopefully the book still overall communicates in typical Finn fashion his experiences in Africa.

It's definitely worth a read!

And so is the follow-up book, published by Safari Press (which did not publish the first one) AAGARD'S AFRICAN ADVENTURES, which contains both AAGARD'S AFRICA and an equally long section by Berit, from her perspective.

Would be interesting to know, based on the letter Charlie found, whether AAGARD'S AFRICAN ADVENTURES has Finn's original manuscript that he prepared for AAGARD'S AFRICA.

Great, now I'm really disappointed. Should have done a bit more research before buying AA; now I can't get Berit's recollections without doubling up on Finn's! And that's too bad, because one of my favorite pieces in Selected Works is "Liver and Onions" where Berit's account of a late season deer hunt is interspersed with commentary by Finn.

Edit to add: Just checked on AAA; yikes! Too rich for my blood. Maybe I need to learn to enjoy digital books. Hope something works out for you with regards to a compilation of Finn's letters; can't think of anyone better qualified to take on such a project.

Thanks for posting.Very interesting that the editor would have the gall to change Finn`s written word.

Thanks for posting this. One of the more interesting things I've read lately.

Isn't Phil Shoemaker still working on a book? Hope this doesn't happen to him when he gets it done.

Unfortunately, editors like that are all too common.