Bart wrote on Feb 4
th, 2022 at 12:46pm:
Nice read. Also noticed the QJ decal on the boat picture at the end of the article.
Bart,
Yeah, my vessels have had those decals on them for 20 plus years, I guess. Maybe some of the rest of you who sport them have had First Nation folks approach and comment on them. I certainly have.
Hey, despite Stu's caption, that picture was NOT taken on LLC. Also, surprise-surprise, though I am "credited" with the pic, the logistics of doing a "selfie" at that distance went beyond my meager capabilities. In fact, the pic was taken by our own Wally13 on Quetico Lake a year or two earlier.
Re: the story itself, though it turned out OK, it was not, in my humble opinion, as good as the original submission (which Jason shared with me only AFTER he had submitted it to the BWJ). Stu edited and embellished Jason's story so as to put a heavy shine on "mentorship". I guess that's OK and it certainly cast me in a favorable (if somewhat undeserved) light. However, from my perspective, he was a little heavy-handed in doing so. For me, the story lost some of its original authentic flavor of a young man experiencing this wilderness for the first time. Instead, it became more of a vehicle for extolling the virtues of mentorship... a good story, but not really in keeping with the spirit of the original.
Hey, it's Stu's magazine and he understands his audience. So, I guess he gets to do whatever he wishes to with submissions to satisfy them. Heck, back in the old days, he would occasionally edit my stuff and - as you might imagine - I was kind of hacked-off by that. However, thanks to db, I generally found a modicum of solace as the "unadulterated versions" would appear (a year-or-so later) in the "Stories" section of QJ.
Don't get me wrong. Despite minor stuff like that (and being a little sloppy with his crediting of photography now and then), I think Stu does a marvelous job with the BWJ. I look forward to reading every issue and I've had the privilege of contributing to quite a number of them. I admire him and owe him a lot. However, if I published a magazine, mine would look significantly different than his... and, hey, it probably wouldn't stay in business very long, either.
The BWJ has lasted decades; the guy has earned my respect.
I'm glad you liked Jason's story. It wasn't bad. Maybe I can get his permission to reproduce the original here in the QJ Stories section sometime in the future. It's a worthy read.
Jimbo