Entre racines et ailes

These recollections span eight decades and two continents, complete with photos, excerpts from letters written more than 30 years ago, and contributions from other people. Some of the stories originally appeared online in the California Flyway Forum or in the California Waterfowl Association's quarterly magazine.Peter Arnold was born in San Francisco in 1924, served in the Navy during WW II, and earned a Master's Degree in Forestry from Yale. His first job, in Southern Brazil, started him on an international career, mostly in Latin America, but in Australasia as well. He lived four years in Ecuador as a Forestry Advisor to its government. Also, on his ranch in the Sierra Foothills of California, he established one of the region's first post-prohibition vineyards.Now retired and no longer able to engage in outdoor activities, he remains vitally interested in several hunting and fishing groups. His lifelong passion for those sports has yielded a lifetime's worth of valuable advocacy and treasured friendships. He and his wife, Sarah, live near Grass Valley, California."The richness of Peter's experiences are not simply measured by the rewards and failures ... but rather by the memory that these things actually happened and were not just dreams of things that only might have happened. Even the heartbreaks are entertaining."-Frank Hall, author of They Came to Shoot: a History of California Duck Clubs and Wetlands Conservation"To anyone that has hunted, fished or just enjoyed the outdoors, this book is written for you. Each story made me want to read another."-Rick Schussel, elite member of the California Flyway Forum and also very active with many other waterfowl organizations"Peter has developed a gift for storytelling that takes the waterfowl hunter and fisherman in all of us along for the ride. Make sure you give yourself enough time to read Ripples on the Water in one sitting. For once you start, you won't easily put the book down." -Will Baer, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at USC

Der Autor macht sich aus der Warte des Alters nochmals auf eine Reise. Sie führt ihn zurück zur Wiege seines Lebens, seine angestammte Heimat, seine Herkunfsfamilie. Er beginnt, Erinnerungen zu sammeln, vor allem die seiner zahlreichen Geschwister, die er mit eigenen ergänzt. Er begibt sich in Archive, erstellt Stammbäume, durchforstet lokale Zeitungen, historische Abhandlungen und die Fotosammlung seiner verstorbenen Mutter. So gerüstet schreibt er aus persönlicher Sicht, jedoch so faktengetreu wie möglich, die Geschichte seiner Herkunftsfamilie und schildert deren Geschicke von den Vorfahren bis zur Gegenwart. Dabei versucht er, die subjektiv erfahrene und erzählte Entwicklung seiner urspünglichen Familiengemeinschaft immer wieder in den sich wandelnden gesellschaftlichen Kontext hineinzustellen und epochale Veränderungen mit dem Auge des Soziologen zu sehen. Er hofft mit seinem Buch einen Beitrag wider das Vergessen zu leisten. Vor allem nachfolgende Generationen sollen davon profitieren. Er will ihnen Schlüssel in die Hand drücken, die ihnen Tore zum besseren Verständnis der Welt ihrer Eltern und Vorfahren öffnen. (lib)