Glory of the Silver King: The Golden Age of Tarpon Fishing (Gulf Coast Books, sponsored by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Amazon.com Price: $24.95 (as of 03/05/2019 01:16 PST- Details)

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Description

A tribute to a fish, a sport, and a time now past . . .
 
Through a series of chance encounters over several years, fishing guide and journalist Brandon Shuler unearthed a couple of drafts of a nearly finished manuscript by an almost forgotten Texas sports author, Hart Stilwell. Titled “Glory of the Silver King,”the manuscript vividly captured the history of tarpon and snook fishing at the Texas and Mexico Gulf Coast from the 1930s to the end of Stilwell’s life in the early 1970s.
 
Stilwell was once a seasoned outdoors journalist with a passion for salt-water fishing. Now, with Shuler’s careful research, editing, and annotation, this lost manuscript has found new life as both an entertaining “fish tale” and a historical snapshot of a region’s natural heritage. It successfully conveys the thrill of fishing for these once abundant species at the same time it tracks—and laments—the upward push, decline, and eventual fall of their fisheries in Texas (which Shuler is in a position to report at the moment are experiencing a rebound).
 
In a personal and informative introduction, Shuler paints a portrait of Stilwell and tells the story of the discovery and evolution of the manuscript. He also provides a look into his own life as an angler and author, creating a connection with Stilwell that gives the work authenticity and relevance.
 
Anglers will delight in Stilwell’s rollicking prose. Environmentalists will appreciate the book’s lesson in ocean conservation. For all who continue to exist or near the Gulf Coast, Glory of the Silver King reintroduces a forgotten literary treasure and a magnificent fish that once filled the waters at our favorite coastal retreats.

“Hart Stilwell was once a world-class raconteur and storyteller. His unpublished manuscript at the glory days of coastal fishing became an underground legend, passed around like a sacred totem for decades. Editor Brandon Shuler has revived Stilwell’s folksy charm and penetrating insights, and the result is this engaging and vital book.”–Steven L. Davis, curator, The Wittliff Collections

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