Outdoor Guide
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January-February 2021
Conservation’s hero, Joel Vance, dies By BRANDON BUTLER Driftwood Outdoors
One of the most important conservation voices in Missouri history has gone silent, yet his words will live on forever. Joel Vance passed away Dec. 9. His work as a writer for 50-plus years inspired generations to enjoy the natural resources of Missouri and beyond. He leaves a legacy as a legendary communicator that will stand the test of time. Vance is best known for his time spent with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Vance’s family released the following statement: “Joel M. Vance passed away peacefully after a short hospital stay. We all got to see him to say our goodbyes in the ICU. He is no longer hooked up to machines. He is striding through an eternally sun-dappled quail field, strong and vibrant once again, a brace of favorite Brit-
tanies, Dacques and Chubby long gone, crisscrossing ahead through the fallen leaves. “His hand is no longer cramped by stroke; he can pick Doc Watson tunes on his Martin guitar, and his song is pure, voice no longer crackling with age. His fingers fly across the keys; he no longer has to use his voice recognition software to share his insights with his readers. If you read his blog, you’ll know that a release from his concerns about the country that he loved soothes his soul. We’ll miss him. His readers will miss him.” ACCOLADES FOR VANCE Vance’s outdoor writing is recognized far beyond the borders of his beloved Missouri. He served as president and board chairman of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA). He is also one the very few writers to have won three of the
subscribers to Missouri Conservationist magazine watched for his byline. The literary rapport he built with millions of readers came into play when he wrote the entire August, 1975, issue of the Conservationist, explaining what the agency would do if voters approved the one-eighth of one percent sales tax for conservation. They did approve it, and the stable, Joel Vance was a gifted dedicated financial foundation outdoor writer who covered it provides to this day has made Missouri for 50-plus years. Missouri the envy of nature lovers the world over. Some Outdoor Writers Association U.S. presidents have left legaof America’s major awards: cies less significant.” Excellence in Craft for jourIN HIS WORDS nalistic excellence, the Jade of Chiefs for adherence to In April 2017, I interviewed and support of the principles Vance for an episode of The of conservation and the Ham Conservation Federation Brown Award for outstanding Podcast. It can be found on service to OWAA. the CFM website, www.conJim Low, who succeeded fedmo.org. To wrap up the Joel as a writer for MDC, said, interview, I asked Vance to “Joel became a familiar and give some sage advice to the trusted presence in hundreds next generation of Missouri of thousands of homes where conservationists.
His response was, “Every citizen of Missouri has a stake in the outdoors because it is, in my mind, the number one conservation state in the country and has been for many years. And I think it is almost a duty of every kid growing up, even in the city or country, it doesn’t matter where, to get educated about the outdoors. There are great education programs the Conservation Department has about wildlife. Learn about the outdoors. Read about it. Become interested.” WHITEHEAD VIEW Bobby Whitehead, editor emeritus of Outdoor Guide Magazine, said, “Joel Vance was the best outdoor editor I ever knew. He was my longestrunning columnist in the Outdoor Guide. He was tough and didn’t hold back about how he felt. I’ll miss his honesty and heartfelt love and passion for all the people and places that make the outdoors in Missouri
so special.” Jim Low, who is one of the most thoughtful outdoor communicators I have ever had the fortune of knowing, admired Vance and cared about him in a special way. Following in his footsteps, Low came to appreciate the work and life of Vance in a way most never could. Low said, “Writing was always more than a vocation or even a passion for Joel. For him, it was akin to breathing, and continued until the grave claimed his restless pen.” We should all be so lucky to live a life as full as the one Joel Vance just left behind. Missouri is a better place for having had Vance telling her stories of beautiful places, wonderful people and a conservation ethos without parallel for so many years. For more Driftwood Outdoors, check out the podcast on www.driftwoodoutdoors. com or anywhere podcasts are streamed.
A great voice for conservation has fallen silent
By JIM LOW Missouri Outdoor Communicators
By now, most of you know that one of the most powerful voices for conservation has fallen silent. Joel M. Vance, treasured friend and mentor to
generations of outdoor communicators, died peacefully on Dec. 9. If I remember right, he was 86. I am honored and daunted by having been asked to write a remembrance of Joel for MOC Talk. His career, like his personality, was outsized.
OUTDOOR
It would take a book to do justice to his legacy. What I know best about Joel is how he affected me. So I’ll stick to that and trust that what I saw of Joel is representative of his life. Like most of you, my first exposure to Joel came
GUIDE
January-February 2021
MAGAZINE
HUNTING • FISHING • CAMPING • BOATING • SHOOTING • TRAVEL Volume 29, No. 1 • Published six times a year Office: 505 S. Ewing, St. Louis, MO 63103 News department — 618-972-3744
www.outdoorguidemagazine.com e-mail: news@outdoor-guide.com COVER created by Kathy Crowe, graphic designer.
Carl Green, editor – carl@labortribune.com John Winkelman, associate editor — ogmjohnw@aol.com Bob Whitehead, editor emer. – ogmbobw@aol.com Lynn Fowler, circulation manager Kathy Crowe, graphic designer — Account executives — Dan Braun, marketing director 314-256-4136 Lauren Marshall 314-256-4141 — Regional and specialty editors — Darrell Taylor Ray Eye Brent Frazee Brandon Butler
Curt Hicken Bill Cooper Thayne Smith Steve Jones
Bill Seibel John Neporadny Jr. Rick Story T. J. Mullin
Larry Whiteley Ted Nugent Ron Bice
– In Memoriam —
Joel Vance • Ron Henry Strait • Jared Billings • Charlie Farmer • Richard Engelke • Mark Hubbard • Spence Turner • Hank Reifeiss Kay Hively • Bill Harmon • Barbara Perry Lawton • Danny Hicks • Ron Kruger • TJ Stallings • John Sloan
Scott Pauley Tim Huffman John Meacham Bob Holzhei Jeannie Farmer Jerry Pabst Ryan Miloshewski
— Staff writers —
Claudette Roper Brad Wiegmann Mike Roux Craig Alderman Randall Davis Jo Schaper Jed Nadler
Kenneth Kieser Gerald Scott Russell Hively Roxanne Wilson Gretchen Steele Larry Potterfield Tom Watson
Don Gasaway Terry Wilson Bill Keaton Charlie Slovensky Michael Wardlaw Tyler Mahoney
through the pages of the Missouri Conservationist. The one thing everyone recognized in Joel was his gift for humanizing any subject. It didn’t matter whether he was describing a quail hunt, profiling a citizen conservationist, explaining why Missouri needed a conservation sales tax or documenting his own misadventures. His prose always brimmed with the warmth and zest for life that were the hallmarks of his own personality. He had the rare gift of being able to “write funny,” as he put it. His humor emphasized human foibles and the slapstick aspect of outdoor misfortunes. Joel’s contagious love the outdoors and his insights into human nature earned him assignments from all the nation’s top outdoor magazines, not to mention the patronage of publishers. His lifetime literary output ran to the hundreds of thousands of news releases, magazine articles, monthly columns and books. If outdoor gear retailers had donated one ten-thousandth of one percent of sales that were traceable to Joel’s writing, he would have been a multi-millionaire. But acquiring wealth was not his top priority. He was born to tell stories and – after the love of his life, Marty, and their children – that’s what he lived for. Writing wasn’t merely a vocation or even a passion for him. It was akin to breathing. Decades after his “retirement,” he continued to entertain, inform and edify readers. Only the grave could still his restless pen. FIRST MEETING My first in-person encounter with Joel occurred while I was attending his alma mater, the University of Mis-
souri School of Journalism. I desperately wanted to work for the Conservation Department. To that end, I had earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management. But my grades in math, chemistry and physics guaranteed I would never get into a master’s program. I was good with words, so I decided that was my best chance of sneaking in the back door at MDC. One day after classes, I drove to Jefferson City and – unannounced – knocked on his office door. Looking back, the most remarkable thing about that meeting is that he was there. Joel based his writing less on phone calls and interviews than on personal outdoor experience (a fact that occasionally caused consternation in MDC’s upper echelons). But he was in the office that day, and I introduced myself and told him I wanted to do what he did. Dozens of established journalists would happily have sacrificed limbs to have Joel’s job. By comparison, I had little to offer, beyond passion and that wildlife degree. Looking at the scruffy wannabe writer in his guest chair, Joel might have decided
he was too busy to spend an hour with me. But he didn’t. Instead, he took me under his wing. I came away from the meeting with solid career advice, and I kept in touch during the intervening years. A decade later, when Joel quit his job (predictably, over a matter of principle), I had the unimaginable good fortune to take up his mantle. For all that, I was not particularly special. Go to Joel’s Facebook page and read the hundreds of comments following his death notice, and you will discover that he mentored scores of aspiring communicators over the years. Many of those adoring fans went on to become luminaries in their own rights. Joel wasn’t merely patient with young people who shared his passions. He became their friend, their mentor and promoter. He was as at ease and collegial with bashful 16-year-old admirers as he was with fellow outdoor legends. Joel wasn’t perfect, but most of his faults also were among his most endearing traits. For example, he wore his heart on his sleeve to an extent that could be burSee GREAT VOICE page 9
