Speaking "Frankly" excerpts

CBA Member

gnoahhh posted this 25 May 2015

Heck, those old re-tread “Speaking Franly” articles are the first thing I turn to! Frank was a force of nature and I don't care about his lack of grammatical skills (which doesn't come easily to me because grammatical ineptitude is one of my pet peeves as I cruise the internet). There is something for eveyone in TFS, and not everyone enjoys every part of it. I for one rarely peruse the match results, as I'm not a competitor or user of equipment remotely like that which a lot of those guys shoot with. So be it. I certainly wouldn't think of not including that section in TFS each issue.

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CBA Member

Ed Harris posted this 25 May 2015

Editing Frank's material is a challenge. If you clean it up too much it removes much of his personal style and “flavor."

When I interviewed at NRA for my first editing position I was given a hand written manuscript in a bound notebook, legal pad, pencil, and an old Underwood manual typewriter which looked like it was a survivor of the Inchon landings.

I was told “do what you can with it and we'll be back in two hours."

I struggled with the mispellings, poor grammar and botched syntax, but managed a concise Q&A on a subject which I no longer remember.

Ludwig Olson looked at my work later, and he turned to Bud Waite and said, “I like his version better than mine, Bud, what do you think?” whereupon they removed a bound volume of American Rifleman from the wall, opened it up and turned to a short item by Elmer Keith, saying, “Yestuddy I cudnit spel goon righter and toodaay I R 1."

And I was hired!

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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RicinYakima posted this 25 May 2015

The writing style of “stream of spoken word” was actually fairly common for those educated in the 1920's and 1930's. It was suppose to be non-authoritarian, non-threatening and “folksy". Mostly bleed over from James Joyce, I think. Those of us educated after 1940 were taught to write concisely and transfer maximum information in the least amount of space.

Ed, having bought Mr. Keith's breakfast and coffee one morning in Salmon, ID, he gave me a couple hour lecture on guns, hunting and the people he knew. He was very articulate for a cowboy who never went to school after age eight. His personal letters I have read are reasonable, but his typing was terrible and handwriting worse. Plus he was never above playing the “dumb, ignorant and uneducated” bumpkin. He got a big kick out of “Guns and Ammo” having to have rotating editors for his columns!

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CBA Member

Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 25 May 2015

i once suggested to ed doonan that frank marshall be declared a national treasure .. i would still vote for that ...

ken

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Standard Member

JeffinNZ posted this 26 May 2015

I like the way Frank used to write. It adds another dimension to the story and puts me 'there' with him as he is speaking.

Cheers from New Zealand

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CBA Member

Ed Harris posted this 26 May 2015

RicinYakima wrote: The writing style of “stream of spoken word” was actually fairly common for those educated in the 1920's and 1930's. It was suppose to be non-authoritarian, non-threatening and “folksy". Mostly bleed over from James Joyce, I think. Those of us educated after 1940 were taught to write concisely and transfer maximum information in the least amount of space.

Ed, having bought Mr. Keith's breakfast and coffee one morning in Salmon, ID, he gave me a couple hour lecture on guns, hunting and the people he knew. He was very articulate for a cowboy who never went to school after age eight. His personal letters I have read are reasonable, but his typing was terrible and handwriting worse. Plus he was never above playing the “dumb, ignorant and uneducated” bumpkin. He got a big kick out of “Guns and Ammo” having to have rotating editors for his columns! Ric, I agree with your assessment. I met Elmer years later at a Winchester writer's seminar which was also attended by the big guns of the gun magazine trade then, Bob Brister, Jim Carmichael, Grits Gresham, Charles Askins, Les Bowman, among others. I was then the new kid on the block. Elmer was a patient, grandfatherly figure, and once he learned that I was into cast bullets, he bent my ear for hours with tips and tall tales. He didn't always understand the science behind principles, but he knew from experience what worked. The best anecdote I recall was, “Hard bullets are a passing fad because and marketing hokum because antimony is cheaper than tin. If hard bullets were good for anything the factories wouldn't bother with soft points....Hard lead is for SHOT, not for bullets!” he said. For years I pondered and sometimes doubted what Keith had to say, but the older I get the old boy knew exactly what he was talking about.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Belding&MullEarlyKeith1929.jpg

CBA Member

billglaze posted this 26 May 2015

I have a few regrets in my life. One is, never having the privilege of meeting Frank, and having a cup of coffee, or a beer with him and just listening to his stories. If they were as stream-of-consciousness as his writing, I don't believe I'd ever tire of them. I bought the disk that the CBA sells of his columns, and frequently just hit the “Play” button to see what comes up. I'm never disappointed.As far as Match Results go, I find them a gold mine of info as to what I need to try, and where else to look for the elusive butterfly of accuracy. Bill

In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. My fate is not entirely in Gods hands, if I have a weapon in mine.

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John Alexander posted this 27 May 2015

      Frank Marshall's style is a little too “downhome” for some. &nbsp;However, what you are reading is the result of an editor working very hard to produce a readable article from Marshall's original notes and still stay true to his writing without completely washing all the original style, or lack thereof ”€ a tough job.&nbsp;That editor is CBA member Frank Washam of Shavano Park, Texas.&nbsp; Thanks Frank for a monumental job well done.

Marshall's writings contain lots of information from a bygone era by a shooter who was willing to show up at CBA matches and prove that he could produce what he wrote about. The CBA CD of Marshall's earlier published articles (compiled by Wally Enga) sells well. John

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CBA Member

Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 13 July 2015

when i read frank's stuff, the voice in my head is somewhere between buddy ebson and willy nelson ...

one of my favorite frank marshall works was a review of the new 64+ model 70 for i think gun digest . he spent very few words on the gun ... maybe they edited out his real comments ... heh ...

ken

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CBA Member

giorgio de galleani posted this 14 July 2015

Good old Elmer was as modern as to morrow. in his bullets designs and hardness of the alloy.

The handsome shining appearance of the bullets , high antimony and the hardness are there for commercial purposes and resistance to rough handling in shipping .

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CBA Member

Dirtybore posted this 20 July 2015

John Alexander wrote: However, what you are reading is the result of an editor working very hard to produce a readable article from Marshall's original notes and still stay true to his writing without completely washing all the original style, or lack thereof ”€ a tough job. That editor is CBA member Frank Washam of Shavano Park, Texas. Thanks Frank for a monumental job well done. Picking up somebody elses notes and comments and making heads or tails of it is no walk in the park and Frank should be commended. I like most of “Speaking Frankly” excerps-articles though a few tend to run on. That's probably a bit of that “down home” style that is prevelent. Keep in mind, most of TFS articles are examples of Technical Report writing that leaves little room for added fluff or authors personal style. Speaking Franky has a way of changing that. So thank you, Frank Washam

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Standard Member

rockquarry posted this 20 July 2015

While I read his material for years, most of Frank Marshall's rambling articles contained far too little gun/reloading information for my tastes and way too much “winning steak dinners".

I suppose I'm in a minority position on this as we all have different tastes in writing styles.

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CBA Member

Millelacs posted this 20 July 2015

The thing about shooting for steak dinners, turkey shoots, etc., is that it added more socializing to shooting. Sometimes with the wife and kids. That's something that I don't see today.

"Male bonding” and all that is great, but having the entire family involved, including making the shooting sports a part of the younger generation's everyday live is important also. Even thou I'm not a shotgunner, seeing the rise of High School Trap (the second most popular High School sport in Minnesota, even ahead of hockey if you can believe it) puts a smile on my face. rockquarry wrote: ...most of Frank Marshall's rambling articles contained far too little gun/reloading information for my tastes and way too much “winning steak dinners".

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CBA Member

Dirtybore posted this 25 July 2015

That added socializing with the kids & wife is why I like the muzzleloading shoots so well. For some unknown reason, there is so much more socializing, even on the trail walk or shooting line at muzzleloading shoots.

Load fast and aim slow.

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Speaking "Frankly" excerpts

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