A Tom Tatum Anthology
Tales of True Adventure and Reflections on Life in the Great Outdoors.
“One day I would catch my first fish, but the moment would be far less remarkable, in every regard, than our unforeseen encounter with a mysterious eel that, like the broken pieces of our childhood, slipped swiftly and silently away.”
Inside the Pages
Three decades of dispatches from forest, river, and far horizon — gathered, polished, and offered as one continuous walk through the wild.
From — A Child's Wild Ride on the Fourth of July
“It was the Fourth of July, 1954 or '55, but thanks to a headstrong horse named Duke, the real fireworks came early that day.”
From — The Mysteries of Life and Death…and Eels
“American eels are catadromous fish, which means they spend their adult lives in freshwater and then return to the sea to spawn. For centuries the migration of these animals remained an unanswered question until more recently when their spawning beds were discovered in the Sargasso Sea between Bermuda and Puerto Rico.”
From — Rattled
“I had been so consumed with photographing the first snake I failed to notice the second one, camouflaged and partially hidden by vegetation, and now found myself well within striking distance with nothing between me and the agitated animal's venomous fangs but my sock and sneaker.”
Tom Tatum
Outdoors Columnist · Storyteller
About the Author
For more than thirty‑five years, Tom Tatum has served as the outdoors columnist for the Daily Local News and a constellation of regional papers, chronicling the woods, waters, and wild creatures of Pennsylvania and beyond.
An award‑winning journalist, his columns have been recognized for their literary voice and unflinching honesty — a craft shaped as much by long quiet evenings on Brandywine Creek as by any newsroom.
He writes from a log cabin tucked among the hardwoods, where the windows hold river light in the morning and the sound of geese at dusk. The stories in Afield Afloat Afar are gathered from a lifetime of paying attention.
35+
Years writing
300+
Published columns
Multi
Award winner
The Journey
Land Adventures
A Child's Wild Ride on the Fourth of July
A runaway pony, a country road, and the moment a boy first met fear.
Rattled
An autumn hike turns electric when the leaves themselves begin to move.
Stray Shots
Notes from deer camp — coffee, frost, and the company of old friends.
Water Journeys
The Mysteries of Life and Death…and Eels
On grief, current, and the strange creatures that live beneath stillness.
Brandywine Mornings
Mist on the creek, a fly line unfurling, and the hush before the rise.
Salt & Sweetwater
From farm pond to surf cast — a lifetime measured in tides.
Travel & Exploration
North of Anywhere
A bush plane, a borrowed map, and a country that refuses to be small.
The Long Road Home
Why every great journey is, in the end, a return.
Camps I Have Loved
A roll call of fires, friends, and the weather we shared.
Tension — from “Rattled”
“My head turned and my eyes followed until they rested upon the source: a second heretofore undetected rattler, coiled and poised to strike, just inches from my foot.”
Reflection — from “…and Eels”
“We gathered up our tangled lines and antique fishing gear, turned back, and headed to the car, unconscious of what other tragedies, triumphs, happiness, and heartaches the roiling currents of the future would hold.”
Wonder — from “Stray Shots”
“Back then my immersion into the outdoors helped ease the haunting pain and anguish of my mother's death.”
Voices from the Book
“What was once a clear and unblemished reality emerges, at last, only as memory, laden with inconsistencies of fact and burdened or embellished with the passing of years.”
“A mere nanosecond of inattentiveness or distraction can precipitate tragedy when it comes to any firearm.”
“The two rattlers, no doubt relieved that these clumsy paparazzi had finally called it quits, resumed their sun-basking in peace.”
Own the Anthology
Now an Amazon #1 Best Seller — a keepsake hardcover gathering Tom Tatum's most memorable, award‑winning columns, crafted for the shelf, the cabin, and the long winter evening.
✦ Limited signed editions remaining
Now Listening
Hear the wild in Tom Tatum's own cadence — every river, every rustle, every hush between heartbeats. A cinematic listen for the road, the trail, and the long quiet evening.
The Field Notes
Receive exclusive stories, dispatches from the cabin, and early access to signed editions — delivered occasionally, never noisily.