There's really no way to describe that sinking feeling when you get really bad news. If you've felt it, you know it. If you haven't, well, God bless you. May it never happen. Early Friday morning I received a very short note from a good friend: "J Guthrie died in his sleep sometime last night." As I grow older, I'm accustomed to getting bad news about good friends. That's part of life that takes plenty of the joy out of life for the ones of us left behind. But to get that kind of news about a 37-year old "kid"- that's a shock. For those of you who knew J. (Don't call me James) Guthrie, you share in the sense of loss we all feel. He was a young man who cut a wide swath through the tightly-knit outdoor writing community. Occasionally brash, immensely talented and blessed with the ability to laugh harder at himself than anyone else, "Guthrie" as I called him, was one of the few people that had the ability to reduce me to absolute silence or gales of laughter.

J. Guthrie in action. Gone too-soon and creating a hole in a lot of lives. Photo courtesy Paul Markel.

Blessed with a goofy grin, a perpetual gleam in his eye and the ability to make even the most mundane things interesting and entertaining, Guthrie had the ability to either make you feel better or completely deflate an over-pressurized ego with a word or a grin. Having felt both, I can say he was one of the young guys that even old guys realized had an immense talent. No one saw that talent more- or suffered the barb more often- than his unlikely TV partner Dick Metcalf. One of our friends described them as "Batman and Robin" but it was so unlikely that at times it looked more like Bing Crosby paired with a young Jerry Lewis. Metcalf, never one to spare a word found a great counterpoint in Guthrie, a writer not so long removed from journalism school to have lost the "less is more" writing style. And is often the case, their outtakes showcased their unique pairing better than a straight-laced TV show. In the outtakes, youth occasionally had a laugh at the expense of the elder statesman - but never in a mean-spirited style. You can see for yourself what friends can do working -and having fun together at: address: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid958487378001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAETeEfI~,i-5J2ubuAMtj_R-Ysh59NPXX8YJFfXDc&bctid=1008340906001 Today, Metcalf is probably hurting worse than the rest of us. He and the young Guthrie were more than colleagues, they were close friends. No one who knew Guthrie considered him anything except a friend. And that's a tribute to his ability to relate to almost everyone. Maybe it's appropriate that I let a couple of them describe him for you. Anyone who knew him will attest to the undisputed fact that J. Guthrie was a grand storyteller whether in print or in person. A spinner of yarns and tales, those who only read J's words cannot appreciate the joy derived from a live performance. J. could captivate an audience and was a welcome addition to any gathering. --Paul Markel, Student of the Gun He was as fine a young man as one could ever hope to meet. Any man would have been proud to call him Son or Friend. I have a lot of good memories about "JDot", having had the pleasure of hunting with him from Alaska to South Africa. I called him "Jdot" after asking him what he preferred to be called on our way to Alaska. All our correspondence had been to and from "J. Guthrie". He responded, "Uncle Bill, I answer to about anything". So I said "Then I'm going to call you Jdot, that has a nice ring to it." He just smiled that big smile of his and said "That works for me". I've seen him "dog-tired" at various trade shows and events as he made the rounds to be sure to say "Hello" to all his friends and take the time to visit for a few minutes. And he always invited you to come visit for a while so he and his Brother could take you hunting southern style. We are all better off for having the privilege of knowing J. Guthrie, the world is a better place for his being here and Heaven just got a little brighter. --Bill Booth, Blue Heron Communications (Retired) If you didn't know J. Guthrie, you missed yet another of the characters gone from our industry. So long Guthrie. --Jim Shepherd