Well, after reading Scott's observation, I decided it should be featured on this morning's blog post.
Timely, as you shall see, and so well written, as L. Scott Hancock's essays and stories tend to be.
I've never actually met Scott, but I hear a lot about him from Helen. And, I have his first book, Tales of the High Lonesome compliments of Helen.
It's available at amazon.com
Having lived in our area for many years, Scott now resides in Blackfoot, Idaho, with his wife Colleen of local Panhandle State Bank and "all-things community" fame.
After enthusiastically giving me permission to post Scott's piece, Colleen told me this morning that there's a Volume 2 of his short story series called Tales of the High Lonesome coming out, maybe in January.
Tales from the High Lonesome: 12/11/21
“It’s A Wonderful
Life.” L. Scott Hancock
I am a great admirer of
this Jimmy Stewart movie set in a Christmas town somewhere in an imaginary America.
If you have not seen the 1946 classic I suggest you find a copy and watch it.
It will warm your heart to the promise of a better tomorrow. “It’s a Wonderful
Life” is also the name of a famous photo by Idaho’s genius photographer from
the past, Ross Hall. I tell folks often in my writings that north and south
Idaho are almost like two different states. The residents of the south don’t
know much about north Idaho unless they have lived there, or have relatives
they visited in the Panhandle. South Idaho knowledge of Ross Hall is a prime
example. I knew of Ross as I grew up when family friends would send me
postcards in the rehab center I stayed at in Boise, with Ross Hall scenic photos
covering the front of the card. I read everything I could about him and the
fact this famous ‘Eastman Kodak Co.’ celebrated photographer lived in the north
lands of my home state.
Ross Hall’s son Dann recently died. Dann was
a friend and great photographer in his own right. Dann, ran ‘Hallans Gallery’
on First Street in Sandpoint where they reproduced digitally updated photos
from the thousands of negatives Ross left behind. I have one hanging in my hall
titled, “Teddy and Bo.” The picture shows and old man with his Cocker spaniel
over his shoulder laying back in his boat
bamboo fishing rod in hand, smoking his curved pipe while floating along
on Lake Pend Oreille. A famous photograph with hundreds of copies on adorning
walls across the world. Mine was a gift from Dann. My friend Bobby in Hope,
Idaho still owns the fishing pole shown in the photo. Ross Hall photographs
made the pages of countless magazines of the era including ten front covers of
Life Magazine. When the Navy set up its training base at the south end of Lake
Pend Oreille, Ross was the man the Navy picked to do their photographic
history. Eastman Kodak officials told Navy Brass they had one of the best photographers
anywhere living in nearby Sandpoint. Ross’s period photographs give an intimate
view into this famous Naval Base at Farragut State Park. The Farragut Naval
Station still works with underwater submarine technology because the Lake is
deep enough to provide ocean like conditions. It makes people blink twice when
I tell them Idaho has an active Naval Base!
Ross and Hazel Hall set up shop in Sandpoint
on First Street and produced thousands of the most remarkable photographs.
Pictures equal to other giants of photography, Ansel Adams or Alfred Stieglitz.
Ross was a genius that would go to any length to produce images that have stood
the test of time. I once remarked that I grew up looking at huge reproductions
of Indian Chiefs of Idaho adorning the walls of the Whitman Hotel coffee shop
in old Pocatello. Dann, nor Hazel, were aware of their existence or how they
got there. Professionally trained as a photographer, Ross understood the
hardships involved in making a ‘once in a lifetime shot’. He hiked to the tops
of peaks on snowshoes, or put himself up a tree or out on a rock precipice, and
any other precarious stand necessary to make a great picture and a lasting
image of his art. All while carrying heavy loads of photographic apparatus on
his back.
By the time I got to know Ross the limelight
was starting to dim in his eyes, but I gleaned from him what it took to make a
good photograph, “Commitment.” My firsthand knowledge of Ross came from dear
friend, legendary Lake Captain Fred Kennedy who was partly responsible for many
of the lake photos, manning the helm of boats while Ross shot film. Ross and Hazel
stood up for Fred and Lottie at their wedding.
Fred’s stories were
historic to me. Imagine a kid in hospital later meeting the man responsible for
the photographs on postcards he received while there. I relayed this story to
Ross once and he smiled. No more kind and gentle soul lived than Ross. Tall and
trim, he was a willow in the wind. His works are part of countless museum and
photography displays with Eastman Kodak Co. proclaiming at one time, “Ross Hall
is one of the ten best photographers alive!”
I have seen hundreds of Ross Hall’s pictures
and that’s barely the surface. For the admirer of his works we still have much
to look forward to as his negatives are still being discovered, and reproduced.
The Hallans Gallery in Sandpoint will go on. It is my understanding the gallery
will continue in the hands of a well-trained faithful follower of Ross’s work.
For this I am overwhelmingly grateful, his work needs to live and enlighten forever.
This master of photographic technique brought us indelible images that will
survive well beyond the current craze for his work. And, that is as it should
be.
Happy Trails.
Photos: A pencil rendering
of Ross’s famous Christmas photo of bygone Sandpoint: “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
Congressman Larry LaRocco
and Me. Sandpoint, 1990. Photo: Dann Hall.
~~~~~~~~~~
Some observations of author L. Scott Hancock by former Spokesman-Review reporter, Kevin Keating. Taken from an Amazon.com review:
It was classic Scott Hancock.
During one of my hundreds of lunch conversations with Scott in then undiscovered Sandpoint, Idaho, I asked him: “Why do you always carry a knife on your belt?” He quipped back in practical seriousness, “So, I can pop the goddamn airbag in my van if it goes off, so I don’t die of suffocation.”
Scott is a Polio survivor.
But that is the least of what he is.
It just happens to mean he drives his van from a wheelchair. And being strapped into the van, in a chair and an airbag in your face is, as I learned, dangerous – unless you have a knife on your belt.
For 30 years I have known Scott. We met in 1990 – in Idaho – when I was a newspaper journalist. He fondly just always calls me Scoop. I wrote about him because I saw him cruising through town on his motorcycle. He was driving it from the sidecar.
A badass modification for his wheelchair.
Everyone stared. That story led to a life-long friendship and to hundreds of other stories that were not all about him – but about his daily encounters with people, places, animals, the outdoors, politics, God. Even hats and an old cowboy everyone called By Golly.
Scott never turns down a conversation, most often he starts them, with anyone. He’s old fashioned that way. He has a gift. A gift to impart wisdom without you knowing. A gift to see the extraordinary in the every day. And a gift of the lost art of storytelling.
It’s enlightening to sit with Scott, as I and many others have, to hear his boisterous, exuberant voice while he fusses with his unruly mustache perched over a mischievous smile.
But the next best thing is to read them.
The stories in this book are true – yet almost unbelievable. They are touching. Funny. Thought-provoking. But mostly honest. Simply, Scott’s encounters are about life and how we should all live it – wide open, foot on the gas.
Scott is a unique, rare man. One of no bullshit, enormous depth, spiritual and philosophical. Yet he never comes across that way. He comes across as who he is. A coffee drinkin’, real cowboy, and a gritty outdoorsman.
His feet (and wheels) have been on more mountains, next to more rivers, and in more Idaho backcountry with bears, elk, and other critters than any outdoor guide. He can tell you as much about guns – because he’s shot most of them - as he can about poetry and politics.
He was a builder for years, architecting some masterpieces from a log home mansion to a one-of-a-kind pyramid house. Those are another story.
He's talked to more regular Joes than the best glad-handing politician. He’s got the quickest wit in the West. Yet is artful with his words.
He’s a highly opinionated, gentle soul. He inherently advocates for what’s right.
Yes, Scott is by definition a Renaissance man. I am better for having shared time with him. The stories are just a bonus. -Kevin Keating
2 comments:
Scott is such a great guy! I’m so glad you enjoyed his book :)
Glad you shared this Marianne. I've always been proud to call Scott a friend, and miss how we used to sit and chat about anything and everything. His is always an enjoyable perspective to hear.
Trish
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