Written by Jason Worley
As an outdoorsman who loves to read, I find myself drawn to books full of short stories. A good mix of tales from field, forest, and water help make the slow days more bearable. A book with stories that, through vivid detail, make you feel you are with the writer both in triumph and in failure. T. Edward Nickens is no stranger to the outdoors and through a lifetime of outdoor activity he has been to places that many of us will only dream about. Through his pen he has been taking folks to their “dream” destinations for more than 30 years.
In his 2021 book, The Last Wild Road, Adventures and Essays from a Sporting Life, Nickens proves once again he has a skill with words and can quite honestly paint with his prose. In this amazing book you’ll find yourself sitting next to him as he is swept out of his canoe on the Kipchuk river in Alaska and is shown firsthand there are, indeed, two Alaska’s. You’ll stand next to him and watch in amazement as a nearly 80-year-old squirrel hunter lays on the forest floor with legs twisted for stability as he plucks a squirrel from the uppermost branches of a massive tree surrounded by squirrel dogs and squirrel hunters. The adventures are too many to list here, but I assure you this book will grab ahold of you on page one.
Nickens talent for telling a story is something you may be familiar with as he is a New York Times bestselling author and has written pieces for many publications, including Field and Stream, Garden & Gun, and Audubon. Nickens is an outdoorsman’s, outdoorsman, as he has truly lived and breathed what he writes about. His ability to mix in knowledge, wit, wisdom, and a natural curiosity for “why” will leave you searching out anything written by him. If by chance you haven't read his work, trust me when I say, you will be hard pressed to find a better place to get a taste of his work then, The Last Wild Road. Pick up a copy at the link below.
