David James Duncan is an American novelist, essayist, and fly-fisherman. He is the author of two bestselling novels, The River Why (1983) and The Brothers K (1992). He has also written a collection of short stories titled River Teeth, and a memoir of sorts, My Story As Told By Water (2001).
Duncan's two novels revolve around fly fishing, baseball, solitude, and family. A religious mysticism underlies most of his work. Duncan also writes much concerning the environment. He lives with his wife and children along trout-filled river somewhere outside Missoula, Montana. Fly fishing is an ancient and distinct angling method, developed primarily for salmonids (trout and salmon, mostly) and now extended to other species such as pike, bass, and carp, as well as a wide range of marine species. ... Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is meditation, prayer, or theology focused on the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality; or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ...
Little did author DavidJamesDuncan know when he agreed to an interview with Smokebox editor Marc Covert that their correspondence—dubbed “the world’s longest conversation” by Duncan himself—would cover a span of over two years; from the first set of questions sent on June 25, 2002, to the final exchange in September 2004.
Duncan graduated from Reynolds High School and Portland State University, living in Portland and near the Oregon coast for many years before moving to his current home in Lolo, Montana, where he lives with his wife Adrian and their two daughters, Celia and Ellie.
Duncan: The United States, flags waving, is indeed leading the nations of the world in what you call “trashing the planet.” But there is a new consciousness being born here, too—and alternative technologies this new consciousness will soon be marketing to improve the human and planetary plight.
Duncan was born into a family of Seventh Day Adventist matriarchs; he grew up in a fundamentalist household but left the church when he was young.
In his preface, Duncan outlines his theme, which is familiar: the idea that the people most likely to wear "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelets are often those living least like the spiritual leader they claim to follow.
DavidJamesDuncan reads and speaks at 7 pm Wednesday, April 26 at the First Christian Church in Eugene, and appears at 7:30 pm Thursday, April 27 at the Unitarian Fellowship in Corvallis.
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