Backtrack

In Backtrack, former naval officer, avid outdoorsman, sportsman, editor, and award-winning journalist V. Paul Reynolds journeys back along the path of his life to revisit and share with readers many of his outdoor experiences. Reynolds was introduced to the outdoors by his father, Harvard Reynolds, in the 1940s. Later, Harvard eventually took his son to his first smoke-filled hunting camp, where amber liquid flowed and profanity filled the room. Reynolds soon understood how the outdoors could bestow both the love of nature and the joy of friendship. Reynolds' journey has since carried him from the brooks of Maine to the hallways of Augusta, where he worked for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the editorial offices of the Northwoods Sporting Journal, where he serves as editor and publisher. Now, the eloquent and thoughtful writer brings readers along on the trail to skin a deer in the field, fish with his dad, and hunt with his wife, Diane, herself a dedicated outdoorswoman.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor and copublisher of the Maine Northwoods Sporting Journal. For twenty-three years, he worked as editorial page editor and managing editor of the Bangor Daily News. He has also been a radio talk show host and a journalism instructor at the University of Maine. From 1994 to 1998, he was director of Information and Education for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Reynolds also writes a self-syndicated weekly outdoor column for a number of Maine newspapers, and co-hosts a Sunday night radio program called The Maine Outdoors. He is an active outdoorsman, a devoted deer hunter, and a Registered Maine Guide. He is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and serves on the board of directors of the New England Outdoor Writers Association. His outdoor columns and outdoor photography have won a number of first place awards in New England competitions. He and his wife, Diane, a retired teacher, live in Hampden with an English setter named Sally.