A letter From Jack Howard

[highPlains]

We had a couple of Jack Howard bows come through our shop within the last few weeks and my Dad remembered a letter that Jack Howard had sent him while he was still alive. He dug it out.

They are just great bows. It was an absolute joy to read the letter from Jack and read some of his thoughts about Fast Flight strings, and how he makes his bows.

I posted the letters on the blog at RMSgear.com, but you can  click on this link  and download the entire letter in a .pdf document. I had to post this here on TradGang because I know how much some of you guys will enjoy reading this.

Anybody else have one of Jack Howard's newsletters that they can share? I would sure love to see more of them.

Here is what my Dad wrote on the blog about Jack Howard.

Over the years I have had the priveledge to meet a lot of the great men and women in traditional archery. Though I never met Jack Howard, I recieved a letter from him in the later years of his life. As you can read in the letter, he was near the end of his bow making days and looking to sell bows outside of his own shop. He sent me this letter along with information about his bows and a newsletter. I just came across this letter as I have had a few of the old Jack Howard bows come through my shop lately. As I write this I just sold a 60# Gamemaster Jet in beautiful condition. It is truly one of the best bows ever made.

One of my biggest regrets over the past 16 years of owning this business is that I didn't sell bows for Jack Howard. At the time I simply did not have the money to stock his bows. It was a shame. Anyway, I am sure that you will get as much joy in reading Jack's words as I did when I came across this package.

You can download the entire package in a .pdf by clicking here, or you can click on the individual pages below to view them in your browser.

-Tom Clum
   

[fixer]

I read the letter your Dad got from Jack and am printing the rest of the file to read and keep.Thanks for making this avaliable.  

[Molson]

Really enjoyed reading it.  Thanks for posting.  Jack almost sounds sad in that letter, like he's missing the way it was. There seems to be that same tone to the writings of more than a few old time bowyers.

[jess stuart]

I remember the catalog from years ago.  I loved his articles in Bow and Arrow mag. thanks for posting, that letter brings back many fond memories.

[Brian Krebs]

I had a gamemaster ordered from him; and had been anxiously waiting for it; when he called and said he had a big batch of bad fiberglass and couldn't promise me if he could get to making my bow. He was pretty upset; and I am glad I didn't sell him the fiberglass !
 He was a hoot to talk to; he was a serious hunter; and even at my best- I think he would have left me in this dust.
 He was an inspiration to a lot of bowhunters !

[Orion]

Thanks for sharing.  Very interesting read.  He was ahead of his time in bow construction.

[BlackDog]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting!

[Jerry Wald]

All I can say is WOW.....I see this in other things...trades etc....you don't find it often but when you find it you never ever forget it.

Like mentioned above he does sound sad. He was a true craftsman.

Jer