What pre-Atari boys did on weekends

It's all there. The Prince Albert. The decoy. The skimmer. The stove. The Grande Canadian. The thermos with the plaid sides and plastic cup. The matches. The kindling. The Baby Ruth. Wrigley's Spearmint. The Snickers. The Sorels. The weeds on the bottom. The hole. The spear. The rope coiled and ready on the floor. Pike at two o'clock. Rapid heartbeat like before pulling the trigger.

While browsing at Lakeland General Store this week I came across a book by the name of Darkhouse Spearfishing across North America by Jay Leitch. I glanced through the book, found it had been signed by the author, was very local and, especially because of that, bought it with the idea of donating it to the PRPL so local Somalis could see what many Minnesota Men do all winter.

Then I got to the dedication page with the title To Mom and Dad across the top and a guy dressed in overalls posing without a smile for the photographer whose shadow on the side of the spearing shack led me to the words Andy Leitch, Underwood, Minnesota. Nuff said. Jay, a professor at NDSU, is Andy's son and 56572 Postmistress Melissa's brother.

The book was first printed in 1992. The second printing was in 2001. There are still a couple of copies on the magazine rack at Lakeland for $14.95. On Amazon the asking price for the lone copy for sale is $47.97.

Reproductions of this painting Darkhouse Spearing (top) by Les Kouba are offered on his website for $1,200. The underwater view Darkhouse Action (center) costs $300 as does Darkhouse Finale (bottom).