From the Editor
Summer 2021
This is an exciting time for Strung. In the fall of 2020, we announced a fleet of new department editors who have since brought a depth of outdoor knowledge and powerful storytelling to our magazine. It has been a pleasure to get to know them better over the last several issues.
Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley’s approach to wild food is both lyrical and grounded—a hard line to walk, but something she does issue after issue. Take, for example, her recipes for Grilled Wild Boar Bánh Mì and Plum Brandy in this issue. Every time she sends me her work, I quickly compile the ingredients, cook the thing, take a bite, and wonder how she does it.
It seems whenever I speak to Strung’s Waterfowl Editor, Don Thomas, he is either heading out to or coming back from a hunting and fishing trip. To say Thomas is well versed in the outdoors is the understatement of the century. He lives a life us mere mortals dream of: hunting with a bow; fly fishing for everything that swims; loading dogs, decoys, and shotguns; or following his pointing dogs around. He’s also the only person I know who has caught a halibut on the fly. It doesn’t hurt that the guy is also a damn fine writer.
Speaking of writers, I am continually amazed by Dave Zoby’s ability to produce the most meaningful and nuanced writing in the outdoor space. In an industry fueled by ego, his work is both brutally honest and hauntingly beautiful. We are immensely fortunate to have him as our Fly Fishing Editor.
By contrast, our Upland Editor, Tom Keer, is a scoundrel. Don’t get me wrong: I mean that in the best possible way. Somewhere along the line he figured out that turning a journalistic eye to the outdoors results in writing that is humble, insightful, and refreshing. If he could shoot as well as he writes, the grouse and woodcock near his home would be in serious trouble.
Our Conservation Editor, Reed Knappe, is aloof. I never hear from him, and he doesn’t answer the phone. When we have a deadline approaching, he makes me lose sleep at night. I might get a text saying, “I’m camping in the desert researching the mating behavior of Gambrel’s quail and won’t have cell service or internet access for a month,” or “Can’t talk right now. I’m on the Trans-Siberian Railway somewhere north of Mongolia, and the Russian soldiers on the train are questioning the taxidermied boar’s head I have with me.” Then at the last possible minute he turns in writing that is incredibly well researched, beautifully written, and thought provoking. How he does it remains a mystery.
When we announced these new positions, many readers noticed a gap. Where, they asked, is the Big Game Editor? Are you still including big game content? It was a big hole to fill, and we were waiting for the right person to fill it. I’m happy to say it was worth the wait. Andrew McKean has been writing about the outdoors for more than 30 years, and I’m excited to introduce him as Strung’s Big Game Editor. McKean grew up on a Missouri farm but followed the pull of the West to Eastern Montana where he began working for weekly newspapers for his first “real jobs” before joining the staff of the defunct Fishing & Hunting News. He found he could compile content for the biweekly in the span of a week—and then spend the other week roaming his beat with a fly rod and an eager dog.
From there, McKean worked for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks before becoming the Hunting Editor for Outdoor Life. McKean served as Hunting Editor for four years and as Outdoor Life’s Editor-in-Chief for another four years before beginning a career as a freelance writer and editor. He has been a finalist for an American Magazine Award (ELLE), won a few state conservationist awards, and is a hunter education instructor as well as a high school track coach.
I look forward to getting to know McKean better, but I can already tell you one thing: The guy is a hunter. He’s hunted five continents, taken all but a handful of North American big game species, and is perfectly at home in Eastern Montana, where other, more citified folks might lose their minds. “I came for a job and stayed put for the last 20 years because the hunting and fishing are so good,” he explained. Although he has hunted Spanish ibex with a crossbow and paddled through British Columbia in search of moose, his first contribution to Strung is about hunting in his backyard. In it he explores the deep sense of place that hunters develop after years of burning boot leather and surveying their hunting grounds.
When I asked McKean what else I might add to this introduction, his response was fitting: “I don’t know what else to add. That sounds like a decent obituary to me.”
I am humbled to work with such authentic and talented people.
Keep casting,
Ryan Sparks
Editor-in-Chief
