Reviews of The Taxidermist's Son:
ForeWord Magazine, a major independent publishing trade journal, named The Taxidermist's Son a finalist for its prestigious 2005 Book of the Year Award as one of the top nine Adventure/Recreation books from independent publishers.
The Taxidermist's Son earned the prestigious finalist position in the Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Sports and Recreation Category. Only a few books were recognized for this level of quality in its category. Congratulations, Ralph!
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 1, 2006
The Taxidermist's Son, by Ralph Scherder of Butler County, is a combination of old stories written first for magazines like the "Game News" and new material. They all share one trait: they're folksy recollections of a Western Pennsylvania's outdoorsman's times afield with friends and family. Sometimes Scherder writes of his own experiences, good and bad; at other times he shares memories or growing up around other sportsmen. The 202-page book is full of place names anyone who is familiar with Pennsylvania will recognize.
From the Albany Times-Union, December 7, 2006
Like most of us who take to the woods each fall or wade in icy trout streams in the springtime, Scherder tells the story of how he came to love these pursuits.
Scherder's father was a taxidermist by trade, and he grew up around the business. His memories include bagging his first buck, running trap lines with his father, and all the time he spent in his dad's taxidermy shop. Scherder's memories give a lot of insight into the making of an outdoorsman.
He also does a great job of explaining the taxidermy business, from why people want their prize fish and game mounted, to the day-to-day things common to the trade. He even shares his memories of how spooked he was one night in his dad's shop after watching the movie "Psycho" and seeing all the stuffed birds Norman Bates had.
- Robert Streeter
From the Outdoorsman's Edge Book Club
Ralph Scherder's favorite thing to do as a child was hang out in his father's taxidermy shop-looking at deer racks, learning the trade and meeting the hunters who brought in their freshly killed game for mounting. Weaned on a steady diet of hunting tales, Ralph couldn't wait to get out there himself. The day his father took him out to trap raccoons, his fate was sealed. He would follow in his old man's footsteps and dedicate his life to hunting and taxidermy.
The Taxidermist's Son is a beautifully written tale of Scherder's journey, from the little kid figuring out what his father was doing in his shop downstairs just by listening, to the young man taking the reins of the shop and becoming a successful taxidermist and hunter. Only a taxidermist could see what Scherder sees when he's in the field-every glint and glimmer of a bear's coat, the subtle expression in a deer's eyes that would be lost on anyone else. Here he tells the story of how he learned to see vivid life in every animal, alive or dead. The Taxidermist's Son is, at its core, Scherder's thanks to his father for passing down values and skills that make his life rich and unique.
From H. Bauer, Outdoor Writer on HuntingPA.com
The Taxidermist's Son is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Ralph Scherder has woven a tapestry of sincere honest emotion into his remembrances of family, friends and special times spnt while growing up and workingin his father's taxidermy shop in western Pennsylvania. It is not a story aobut the harvest of one trophy animal after another but rather a narrative of deeper, more important lessons that were learned from experiences in the outdoors and at home. It is a picturesque account of the events that eventually molded a wide-eyed bashful child wearing Spider-Man snow boots into a man.
The book brought back many near-forgotten childhood memories about time spent along a trap line I ran while growing up in the beautiful western Pennsylvania outdoors. I am sure there will be something in this book that all sportsmen can identify with. The Taxidermist's Son should be required reading for anyone who has grown up here in Penn's Woods.
From the Iconoclast, #90
Most of the books we receive for review remind us (both obviously and inadvertently) what a serious business literature is. But once in a while a book comes out of the mailbox that takes it all back to the beginning: literature began around the campfire. These are campfire tales (though true) of men, women, and time in the woods. Put another log on the fire, lay back in your sleeping bag, and watch the sparks jump to the stars while Mr. Scherder tells us about fathers and sons, the taxidermy craft; fish, fowl, and a fair amount of the mammals of North America (bear, elk, deer, raccoon). The book is interesting, funny, poignant, and never shows anything less than reverence for nature -- and delight and wonder at the human animal (with just an occasional raised brow). If being outdoors wading in a river, waiting in a blind, perched on a stand, or stalking tracks and sign is like being in a church for you, The Taxidermist's Son will lift your spirits.
From Heartland Reviews, Oct-Dec 2005
*Three heart rating*
This is a multifaceted story about how a young man followed in his father's footsteps as a taxidermist. Although it includes the cultures of hunting and fishing in America, it also addresses the factors involved in following an unusual career path because it became part of a life-style.