On the Spine of Time - (Pruett) by Harry Middleton (Paperback)

About the Book

The entrancing new work by Harry Middleton, the author of the popular The Earth Is Enough. This is a fisherman's appreciation of the wonderfully wild Great Smoky Mountains which straddle the Tennessee-North Carolina border, and includes lyrical accounts of eccentric people, evanescent landscapes and unexpected climates among the permanence of the mountains.

Book Synopsis

This powerful story of one angler's adventures in the Great Smoky Mountains is a descent into wildness, a meditation on the landscape bathed in greenness and truth, and the discovery of a people living 'on the spine of time." From the solace of mountain streams to the frenetic bustle of Gatlinburg, one of Tennessee's great tourist towns, this memorable journey summons readers to confront the joys and sorrows of life through a new understanding of our place in nature and its process.

Review Quotes

"In On the Spine of Time, Harry Middleton takes the reader on an unforgettable fishing trip, full of quirky characters, magical streams, and the unique moods of ancient mountains and their hidden world. This book measures up tot he extraordinary country it chronicles." ---Paul Schullery, author of Mountain Time and Searching for Yellowstone.

"Middleton writes with humor and compassion" ---Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Harry Middleton was a writer and author of five books on fishing and the outdoor lifestyle. He wrote intensely descriptive prose using a wide- ranging vocabulary to create sparkling stories about wild places and remote trout streams. He was a critically acclaimed author whose books include "The Earth is Enough: Growing Up in a World of Flyfishing, Trout, and Old Men (1989)," On the" Spine of Time: a Flyfisher's Journey among Mountain People, Streams, & Trout (1991"), "The Bright Country: a Fisherman's Return to Trout, Wild Water and Himself (1993)" and "Rivers of Memory (1993)." He is the recipient of the Friends of American Writers Award, the Outdoor Writers Association of American Best Book Award, and the Southeastern Outdoor Press Best Book Award.
Harry was born in 1949 and grew up in the south graduating from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana with an English degree. He earned a master's degree in Western history from Louisiana State University in 1973. He wrote the "Outdoor South" column for "Southern Living" magazine from 1984 to 1991. He passed away unexpectedly in 1993 at the age of 43. He is survived by his widow, and two sons.