Alan Black. Any additional literature out there?

woodsrunner · Mar 21, 2025

Alan Black, the well-known white hunter of Kenya, is one of the very few white men who is in the true meaning of the term a "lone hunter". He goes off "on his own" without even a single Native guide...

I am wondering if anyone has come across any literature/lore pertaining to the life of Black, 1881-1963, beyond what is to be found on the Europeans in East Africa website and in the pages of Herne's excellent White Hunters. He's the one intrigues me most of all the early greats, though i suspect that the very nature of what makes the man and his life so intrigueing placed strict limits on what would ever be known of him to write about. Perhaps i've missed something. Thanks.

JvW · Mar 23, 2025

There's a chapter on Alan Black in Tony Dyer's Men for All Seasons, published by Rowland Ward.

woodsrunner · Mar 25, 2025

JvW said:
There's a chapter on Alan Black in Tony Dyer's Men for All Seasons, published by Rowland Ward.

Thanks, i'm going to look for that.

Kouprey · Mar 31, 2025

I am also very interested in Alan Black, what a character he must have been.
One good chapter on Alan Black is in the book "Bwana Bunduki" by Emily Host. A superb book about the old White Hunters, written in the 1940s or 1950s when Host could still interview many of the old hunters. But the book was released much later, in 2007 in New Zealand.
If i remember correctly, Mrs. Host claims that Black actually wrote his memoirs. But the publishing didn't work out and the manuscript was lost.
Alan Black is also mentioned in several other books like Eric Rundgren "Inside Safari Hunting", in "The Elephant People" by Dennis Holman or "Legends of the African Frontier" by Chandler.
I heard that the late Peter Beard had access to Black's photos and library and used them in his books, but this is just hearsay.

woodsrunner · Mar 31, 2025

Kouprey said:
I am also very interested in Alan Black, what a character he must have been.
One good chapter on Alan Black is in the book "Bwana Bunduki" by Emily Host. A superb book about the old White Hunters, written in the 1940s or 1950s when Host could still interview many of the old hunters. But the book was released much later, in 2007 in New Zealand.
If i remember correctly, Mrs. Host claims that Black actually wrote his memoirs. But the publishing didn't work out and the manuscript was lost.
Alan Black is also mentioned in several other books like Eric Rundgren "Inside Safari Hunting", in "The Elephant People" by Dennis Holman or "Legends of the African Frontier" by Chandler.
I heard that the late Peter Beard had access to Black's photos and library and used them in his books, but this is just hearsay.

Very good, thanks! I will look for this material. Isn't it interesting you mention Peter Beard, my wife and I were just yesterday morning going trough Eyelids of Morning from the bookshelf, and i was describing to her just what singular men both Beard and Graham were in their time.

Kouprey · Mar 31, 2025

woodsrunner said:
Very good, thanks! I will look for this material. Isn't it interesting you mention Peter Beard, my wife and I were just yesterday morning going trough Eyelids of Morning from the bookshelf, and i was describing to her just what singular men both Beard and Graham were in their time.

Indeed! Beard was also a person that i'd have loved to meet. Who else could claim to be a friend of Tania Blixen, big game hunters like Glen Cottar or artists like Francis Bacon or the Rolling Stones... ? There are two books about PB: "Wild" by Graham Boynton and "The Adventures and Misadventures of Peter Beard" by Jon Bowermaster.
I have a few of Beard's books that he "signed". He dipped his hand in red color, smeared it on the front page, scribbled a poem or drawing beside it and glued bird feathers and leaves on same page...

Those books i will surely keep, they mean a lot to me.

woodsrunner · Mar 31, 2025

Kouprey said:
Indeed! Beard was also a person that i'd have loved to meet. Who else could claim to be a friend of Tania Blixen, big game hunters like Glen Cottar or artists like Francis Bacon or the Rolling Stones... ? There are two books about PB: "Wild" by Graham Boynton and "The Adventures and Misadventures of Peter Beard" by Jon Bowermaster.
I have a few of Beard's books that he "signed". He dipped his hand in red color, smeared it on the front page, scribbled a poem or drawing beside it and glued bird feathers and leaves on same page... Those books i will surely keep, they mean a lot to me.

Fantastic stuff. I am happy i posted this, for this rich ore of leads coming back here. Such lives, eh?! Few of them end all that well (some do though) in these cases, but then, i am sure these people would tell you "that is hardly the point" and i for one would agree with them. Thanks for this, i'm going to start a sheet of notes on this stuff.

Alan Black. Any additional literature out there?

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