"Memory is important for a writer, and this is particularly true for my dad. His memory of fine poetry and literature helped him to recognize and to write smooth, flowing, and elegant prose."
"But such a marvelous memory can be a two-edged sword, because the sorrow about his mother’s death remained as fresh in his mind as his many joys."
"Daytimes, my dad worked as literary editor... Evenings and weekends he wrote his own books."
"He played the banjo and the piano by ear. He couldn’t read a note of music, but once he’d heard a song by Gershwin, he would pull his banjo out of the closet or sit down at the piano and play it, belting out the lyrics."
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour."
"I feel such tremendous respect and love for my dad. He was an amazing, vital, compassionate, and talented man."
"The capacity for gratitude, a simple approach to the heart, produced some odd friendships in our neighborhood."
"Rascal’s circle included Joe Hanks, the dim-witted janitor of the Methodist Church, who was convinced that the German Lutherans were planning to poison the water supply of Brailsford Junction."
"Not nightingales," he said, "but we do have whippoorwills, of course."
"It made me sad that I could not have known Kumlien, and walked the woods with him, learning every bird and flower and insect."
"Let’s take the day off," he said. "There must be a pair of whippoorwills somewhere around here."
"This was our very own lake, filling our life to the brim."
"He was a casual parent who never tried to stop me from risking any hazard."
"Rascal told me in every way he could that I was completely forgiven for having cornered and captured him."
"Living much in the past, and never in the worrisome future, his outlook was so tranquil that he drifted pleasantly from 1862 to 1962—seven months short of a full century—with very little sense of personal or international tragedy."
"Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will. A soloist against the symphony of the night making me feel weightless, airborne, and eerie—happy, but also immeasurably sad."
"It seemed miraculous then, and no less miraculous now."
"The sight of glistening water ahead, cool and inviting, increased his gait to a gallop."
"For at least three seconds he froze in the manner of a bird dog coming to a point."
"The past and future meant nothing to Rascal; he lived completely in the present without ambition or worry, a very comfortable fishing companion."
"There they lay, gleaming and radiant, the plumage of the most beautiful bird in North America."
"Convinced at last that the bear was not alive, he climbed aboard the massive head, proud to have won such a dangerous battle."
"Well, son, you can't get anything in this world without working for it."
"Gaining just about a pound a month. He'll be a big husky fellow before he goes to sleep for the winter."
"Listening to the soughing of the wind high in the pines, realizing sadly that we must now return to civilization."
"That was the best trout I have ever eaten. It made a feast that evening for the three of us."
"There could be no doubt about it. This was the work of a bear."
"Somewhere it must all be recorded, as insects are captured in amber—that day on the river: transcribed in Brule water, written on the autumn air, safe at least in my memory."
"I felt fortunate to be permitted to keep the money I earned from mowing lawns and selling my garden produce."
"It's these gol-danged automobiles, smelly, noisy, dirty things, scaring horses right off the road."
"Then the thought suddenly struck him that he was trapped, caged, imprisoned."
"We sat eating soft-shelled pecans, wishing we could stay side by side forever, sharing a meal and each other's company."
"Slammy, unfortunately, did not die of rabies."
"Rascal was beginning to get slightly plump in preparation for the winter."
"We walked up the street to Crescent Drive and turned down the country lane through a world ablaze with autumn."
"Rascal and I sat silently beside a marshy pond where a few mallards and black ducks were tipping and preening."
"Men had stopped killing other men in France that day; and on that day I signed a permanent peace treaty with the animals and the birds."
"My financial problems increased as we approached Christmas."
"The canoe was heavier than I thought it would be."
"Rascal fell asleep during the hours I labored against the current."