A Letter From Peter Hathaway Capstik

[spike.t]

Yes! It was a single sheet of paper folded and stamped, no envelope

Hard to believe nowadays that an accomplished writer too the time to write back to a kid

An airmail letter...all in one ..they were light to help keep weight down on the planes delivering the mail internationally...I remember back at boarding school in Scotland the kids from overseas used them instead of the paper and envelopes the rest of us used in our weekly letter writing back home .....at 8 years and older not one of our favourite pastimes every Sunday morning .... ....but my mum kept them all....years later she got them out....everyone was basically the same 3 lines

 

[spike.t]

Reminds me of a news story from years ago, a little boy got in trouble with his mother and was grounded for a period of time he wrote the governor and asked for a pardon …..

The governor granted it!

I forget what state but I remember the governor being interviewed and when asked why he granted the pardon, he stated something like…

“I think it’s important that younger generations understand how the law works and appreciate it for what is.”

Neat

 

[7mmFan]

Agree that this should be framed and on the wall.

 

[migrabill]

YOU NEED TO FRAME THAT! That's awesome.

 

[Jason Miller]

Great letter a memento, I , as well, can attribute my love for Africa to the Great Peter Capstick, I am sitting here in Kenya now thanks to him.

Anyway, I also mailed letters to different folks in Southern Africa back in the early 90s asking if there was anyway one could work his way into the field in Africa and got the same dismal responses,.

I truly think that is wrong, and for that matter Capstick was wrong, especially back when that letter was written,

I still believe anyone with the desire to work over here can make it happen, You just need guts and determination to make the connections and the willingness to “pay your dues”

 

[Shakka]

Sometimes I think that maybe I should curse him and JA Hunter for all the money they cost me, but the passion has been such a huge part of my life, I wouldn't be me without it

 

[PARA45]

That letter should be professionally matted, framed, and put on the wall in your trophy room. It’s a unique, cool, and very personal conversation piece. I’m sure you cherish it.

100% in agreement with this comment. Preserve it, that is one cool letter.

 

[Nyati]

These letters were called aerograms, I remember them back when I lived in Pakistan !

 

[Huvius]

Thats funny, that is how I discovered Jim Corbett in the mid 1990s. The librarian knew I liked hunting and set aside a few books for me before they were thrown out.

I had a very similar experience!
In 1989 or so I got Use Enough Gun and Man Eaters of India from my school library when they were clearing some books out.
The Capstick books are a good read regardless of their veracity.

 

[baxterb]

A thought if you frame it. Use glass on both sides and use a small chain attached to the top edges of the frame to hang from. That way you can flip it over and see both sides.

Like this:

 

[C.W. Richter]

Fairly certain TV astronaut has happened under post-Capstick DEI! LOL Not a fraud. Just selling Africa. Watch his videos...PHs love ribbing him but it's all in good fun after the hunts. Look at Anne Hathaway closely and then at PHC-they're definitely related.

 

[cwickgo9]

I'm in the same boat with PHC - he lit a fire that long smoldered from early childhood and my first "Model 70" BB gun and the target poster that came with it blazoned with African wildlife. Once I read "Death in the Long Grass", I devoured his entire library and other books he "reprinted". I have now a rare print of Osa Johnson's "I Married Adventure" and a couple others like Ruark's "Horn of the Hunter".

 

[Fzj80]

Fairly certain TV astronaut has happened under post-Capstick DEI! LOL Not a fraud. Just selling Africa. Watch his videos...PHs love ribbing him but it's all in good fun after the hunts. Look at Anne Hathaway closely and then at PHC-they're definitely related.

The Anne Hathaway - PHC connection is a new one to me

 

[45-70guy]

Great memento! As others have said, I'd frame that nicely and hang it in my mixed trophy and bourbon room.
"veal chop in a Italian restaurant" and "transvestite astronaut" have much better chances 43 years later.

43 years later it’s now part of the prerequisite to have at least 1 astronaut like that
Equal opportunity!

 

[leslie hetrick]

I read Death in the Long Grass when I was 11. St. Andrews episcopal school library. I think it was a week of detention! I was instantly a buffalo hunter! Just took me 32 years to do it for real. Great stuff!

ha, it took me about 50 years. i made my first hunting trip at 70 in 2013 and my last trip(#6) in 2019 at 76. what gave me nightmares at 14-15 was dreaming about the maneaters tigers in inda and taking people at all hours of the day.

 

[Leadwood]

PHC had a way with words few could match.
He conveyed Africa through his writings in such a way that one could perceive the sounds, smells and sights through his words.
He remains my favourite writer on African hunting.
His best paragraph from all his books :

" If a man will live his life in the pursuit of dangerous game, for whatever reason, be it sport or game control, there will always be that little spot waiting for him on some hillside, hopefully under a great fig,that will be the price he will pay.
And there will always be some of us who find the price not only fair but downright cheap "
[ Safari, The Last Adventure ]

 

[Spey]

Safari, The Last Adventure

thank you Leadwood, I had not heard of this title and just purchased a signed copy. The man can write and I love his humor. That combined with my passion for Africa its people and especially its dangerous game is a huge win.

 

[Leadwood]

Pleasure @ Spey......