Book Review: George Smith A Life Lived Outdoors: Reflections of a Maine Sportsman

By Bob Humphrey

            I’ve known George long enough that it’s easier to count the time in decades rather than years.  I’ve sat beside him and opposite him at legislative committee hearings, working groups and public meetings involving sportsman’s issues.  I’ve worked with him on numerous special projects and I’ve read his columns in SAM news and the Maine Sportsman, finding them insightful and informative, but always, I thought, a tad dry.  But in all those years I’d never read his newspaper columns, and until I opened his book and began reading, never realized he had another much more thoughtful and introspective side.

The book opens with a look at camps, which is appropriate because this book should, and I believe one day will become standard fare for every Maine camp, and a good many outside Maine as well.  It’s a perfect tome for those quiet, contemplative hours when we want to escape  from the hubbub, strife and busy lives we lead in the “civilized” world.

Quite contrary to his business like style in the “News” and the “Sportsman,” his succinct yet entertaining style in this book reads a bit like the narrative to a biographical film, and will certainly strike a positive note with fans of Andy Rooney.  Smith can turn something as mundane as picking up roadside trash into an amusing anecdote.  Smith makes those of us who live in the country feel like he’s describing our home, and will make those who don’t, wish he was.  Who knew that this staunch crusader for sportsmen’s rights had such a whimsical side?  Obviously, not me.

If I have any criticism, it might be that the title is a bit misleading.  The book is about a life lived both indoors and out, with an obvious bias toward the latter.  And Smith is indeed a Maine sportsman, but only one of the book’s three sections is devoted to hunting, fishing and other “sporting” adventures.  The first and third parts, as their headings infer, involve Home, Camp and Maine Life, and Family Friends and Faith, respectively.

Make no mistake, the middle section offers plenty for Maine sportsmen.  In addition to sharing adventures afield, each chapter also has a message, a lesson on topics like lead sinkers, public land and our dwindling outdoor heritage.

If you read the papers he writes for you’re already familiar with Smith and probably have a copy of the book.  If not, pick one up, especially if you own a camp or enjoy spending time outdoors, or even if you wish you did.  You will by the time you finish reading.

Bob Humphrey is a columnist for the ‘other’ Maine newspapers, a book author, freelance outdoor magazine writer and also a Maine sportsman.