On August 7, the Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame officially inducted three new members. The ceremony was held at the Webber Center for Conservation and Education in Clare, Michigan, the home of the Hall of Fame. The three inductees were:
• Jerry Dennis
Award-winning outdoor author and poet.
• Ted Nugent
World-famous musician, best-selling author, blogger and television personality.
• Mark Kenyon
Author, director of the Meat-eater group, podcaster and television personality.
All three inductees were born and raised in Michigan and deserve this prestigious honor. As chairman of the Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame committee, I was proud to welcome these gentlemen into the Hall. I also appreciate their willingness to take the time to answer a few questions:
Jerry Dennis
Q) “At what age did you discover your passion for the outdoors and outdoor activities?”
A) “My earliest memories -3 years old? are of fishing with my father and walking the shores of Lake Michigan with my mother. I always preferred to be outside.”
Q) “What person in your life influenced that passion?”
A) “My father. He loved hunting and fishing, and I caught the bug from him. He was happy to have me along and proceeded to teach me everything he knew.”
Q) “When did you begin your career as a writer, poet?”
A) “I think of the beginning of my senior year of high school when I was given permission to spend study hall every day in the library. I proceeded to check out and read (or at least scan) twenty years of Field and Stream, Sports Afield, and Outdoor Life – every issue, in chronological order. I came away from that experience knowing I wanted to write about the outdoors for a living.
How-to and where-to-go were ok, but what I really cared about was telling stories. I spent the rest of my school years learning how to do that. I started writing professionally just out of college in 1982 and was able to quit my job as a carpenter and write full-time starting in 1986. I have not had a regular paycheck since.”
Q) “Who most helped you to develop your craft as an author of books?”
A) “I learned to author books mostly from reading books. I saw what worked and what did not, what moved me and what did not, and went from there. The best advice I ever got was from my brother:” don’t be boring.”
Q) “Which of your books is most special to you?”
A) “A Place on the Water. It was my fifth book but the first collection of personal essays, many of them previously published on the back pages of magazines where they were tagged as think pieces or mood pieces but which the professors referred to as narrative nonfiction. I had already known for a few years that it was my real work.”
Q) “Who is your favorite author?”
A) “That is a tough one. I have favorite writers in many genres and from many parts of the world, but my favorite over the years has been Michigan’s own Jim Harrison. His novellas and essays pulled me in, but his poetry is what I return to repeatedly. He was a brilliant stylist and was whip smart. It does not hurt that he was a passionate angler and bird hunter.”
Q) “What does it mean to you to be inducted into the Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame?”
A) “I am still a little stunned by this honor. I guess it means that I can stand beside some of my heroes outdoor writing, including Tom Huggler, Mort Neff, and John Voelker (who has not been inducted yet, but should be) too, that my example might inspire a new generation of writers who care deeply about the outdoors and are willing to work to protect it.
Ted Nugent
Q) “When did your passion for the outdoors and outdoor activities begin?”
A) “Thank God, lucky, lucky me, I was born in an outdoor bowhunting family, as my father, Warren Henry Nugent, was already an ardent follower of the great Fred Bear! Born along the Rouge River in Detroit, the wildlife called my name from the moment I heard it and this is my 78th year celebrating the great Spirit of the Wild!”
Q) “Who has had the greatest influence on your outdoor communications career?”
A) “My biggest influence to promote and celebrate the hands-on conservation lifestyle came from the vulgarity and dishonesty of animal rights scammers! As I traveled the world in my rock and roll career, I never saw any visible response to their lies in the major media, so I unleashed truth, logic, common sense, and real-world science in every media opportunity I have ever had.”
Q) “What form of outdoor
communication is your favorite?” (Author, podcast, television, video, music)
A) “My approach to life and the imperative to stand up for the hunting lifestyle has always been to wallpaper and carpet-bomb the truth no matter what form the media may be. I do it all the time at every opportunity.”
Q) “For what do you wish to be remembered by your outdoor audience?”
A) “Real conservation families have witnessed me stand up absolutely and unapologetically my whole life and they constantly remind me how much they appreciate that.”
Q) “Of all your outdoor adventures, what is your most memorable?”
A) “No question, those unbelievable campfires with terminally ill children that have requested their last outdoor experience with me. I am helpless to adequately describe the emotion and spirituality of such humbling blessings.”
Q) “What is your primary message to the young people who visit your camps?”
A) “The American dream is only really available if you are clean and sober and maximize your reverence for God’s miraculous healing powers of nature as a hands-on participant.”
Q) “What does your induction into the Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame mean to you?”
A) “It is an honor beyond description to humbly stand side by side with such dedicated sporters who have celebrated and promoted this amazing soul-cleansing outdoor lifestyle. I am honored and cannot thank everyone enough.”
Mark Kenyon
Q) “At what age did your passion for the outdoors and outdoor activities begin?”
A) “My family had me out hunting and fishing and in the outdoors from as early as I can remember. I believe I was three when I went to deer camp for the first time and that love of the outdoors only grew from there. As a young man, I fell head over heels for deer hunting and then bass fishing, and as I aged, the outdoor interests continued to broaden into turkeys and other big game, fly fishing, backpacking, trail running and more.”
Q) “When did you decide to make outdoor communications your career?”
A) “I started a deer hunting website just prior to my senior year of college, in 2008, called Wired to Hunt. This started simply to scratch my hunting itch while I was away in New York City working on a summer internship. But a year later, after accepting a tech job that sent me to California, I realized that I needed to merge my love of the outdoors with my career. For the next four years, I worked mornings, nights, and weekends to build the Wired to Hunt brand and community, while also starting to write for magazines. In 2013, I was able to quit my day job and go full-time as an outdoor writer, blogger, and podcaster. I ran Wired to Hunt full time for another four years until 2017, when I was offered the opportunity to merge my business into MeatEater and continue to write, podcast, and host shows/videos as a part of the MeatEater network.”
Q) “Who has been the largest influence (supporter) of our career?”
A) “My grandfather and parents were my most important early influences and supporters, establishing in me a foundational love of hunting and fishing and a steadfast belief in the wild world and working for the benefit of it. That and the importance of hard work and dedication were instrumental in my success to this point. As for broader career influences, my colleague Steve Rinella stands as one of my greatest mentors in how to communicate effectively about our hunting and fishing lifestyle”.
Q) “What is your favorite form of outdoor communications (blogs, podcast, television, print, etc.)?
A) “As much as I enjoy hosting podcasts and films/television shows, there is nothing I enjoy more than working on my books. It is incredibly challenging and time-consuming like nothing else, but the long-form written word allows a depth of connection with a reader unlike any other mode of communication. I feel I can more thoughtfully convey a message and make a difference in a more profound and long-lasting way with a book than anything else. For that reason, the written words and books especially hold a special place in my heart.
Q) “Of all your outdoor adventures, what is your most memorable?”
A) “My visits to Alaska. A caribou hunt in Central AK, a fishing and blacktail hunt in Southeast AK, and a fly-in visit to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge stand out as the most memorable adventures from an iconic-destination perspective. But if we are talking true depth and importance of memories, it is the outdoor adventures with my two sons: my oldest son’s first successful turkey hunt, deer hunts with my youngest boy, sharing deer camp with them and my father. As great as wild places are, it is those family moments that have mattered the very most.
Q) “What current projects are you working on?”
A) “My most noteworthy projects now are my new podcast series I just launched, Future Wild, which features in-depth interviews with world-class experts on the future of hunting, fishing, wildlife, and wild places. And my soon-to-be-released second book, Before They’re Gone: The Rough and Tumble Fight to Save America’s Wildlife.” This book has been many years in the making, and I cannot wait to share it with the rest of the world.
Q) “How meaningful is it to you to be inducted into the Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame?”
A) “This is a tremendous honor. The great state of Michigan made me into the outdoorsman I am today and opened the doors to a lifestyle for my family and me that I would not trade for the world. I am blessed to be able to do work that I love and hopefully aid in ensuring that hunting, fishing, and the wild world live on far into the future. To be recognized for that work in this way is incredible and much appreciated. I am humbled to be standing alongside so many Michigan legends.”
The Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame includes a talented mix of hunters, anglers, writers, artists, authors, television personalities, and game specialists. These three multitalented inductees fit naturally among past honorees. Together, they represent many forms of outdoor communication, but they share a common bond: they are Michiganders whose work celebrates the outdoors, outdoor pursuits, and Michigan.
Congratulations to all!
