Priscilla Richardson

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Nationally known writer Bruce Ingram calls Fincastle home. Ingram is the author of three published books, with a fourth due out next year. He also writes about 100 articles a year on outdoor life. After all, where better to live than Botetourt if you're going to enjoy outdoor life and then write about it?

Amazingly, Ingram does his research and writing in his spare time before and after teaching ninth- and 10th-grade English at Lord Botetourt High School. He gets up at 5 each morning to write.

"There's no downtime in my life," he said. "I'm working all the time. Every day is planned out to the nth degree."

Does all this work make Ingram, 55, long for retirement? The short answer is "no." He said that as a high school student, "I knew I wanted to be a professional writer and teach high school English. I can't complain. I'm pretty fortunate."

He also at one time felt fortunate just to have a teaching job at all. When he graduated from Roanoke College in 1974, so many others were going into teaching he had to substitute-teach in Roanoke and work as a janitor for a year. From there he went on to full-time teaching, finally landing for good in Botetourt County.

In the meantime Ingram married Elaine Adams, a teacher and fellow professional writer, whom he met while working summers at Camp Easter Seals. Teaching is so central to their lives that both their children are following in their parents' profession.

Ingram's story of how he broke into professional writing can inspire anyone. "In 1981, I sold my first article, on fishing, to 'Virginia Wildlife.' I thought I was on my way. Then the next eight I wrote all got rejected. I had no idea about queries [letters to editors asking if they'd be interested in a topic]. I didn't know how to take pictures. I had thought it was going to be a piece of cake: send it out and get a check.

"After a year and a half of rejection, I said, 'I can't write, it's hopeless.' I was fed up. Then a friend who had seen the fishing article called and said that there was going to be a hunt for wheelchair-bound hunters at Camp Easter Seal. He begged me to come over and try. I took pictures and interviewed, and he suggested it go to a big magazine. I sent it to 'Outdoor Life,' one of the two biggest outdoor magazines in the country." They bought it.

Then Ingram came to see that, because of the way he had written the story, the editor had thought he himself was handicapped and had participated as a hunter. "I was very embarrassed. But then I realized I had my second sale. The check came; I wrote and apologized for the false impression. He wrote back and said, 'send us another idea.' So I sent him one on Lake Moomaw, and he bought it. And he said, 'send more.' I thought, oh my gosh!"

With this break, his name started appearing in this magazine.

Then other magazines started buying, and his writing career took off.

"Ever since, 24 years now, it has been very steady. I have sold over 1,800 magazine articles and sold over 2,200 photos." Ingram also has freelanced for The Roanoke Times.

In between writing the articles, he completed his books, the first three of which are guides to Virginia rivers. His fourth will cover how-to's for fly and spin fishing along with land stewardship.

One major thing any landowner can do to preserve wildlife, he said, is to let trees grow along streams or creeks.

Ingram doesn't just write about the outdoor life, he leads it himself. He hunts and fishes and knows his way around our rivers and forests.

He also puts his money where his mouth is. To preserve open land for future generations, he has bought and put 392 acres under conservation easements. And he advises and helps others to do the same.

Our grandchildren will be thanking him, as they enjoy the outdoor life, too.