Can anyone tell Me about The REAL Col. Jeff Cooper ?

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Mike H

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I read a lot of Cooper's material, and, let me take a deep breath here, the guy really sounds like an arrogant you know what. I want to like the Colonel, if only because he is to shooting what Col. Sanders is to chicken. It's just that when he starts calling his wife the "Countess" or some such, uses the royal "we" when referring to himself and tells stories about how clever he is and how stupid the rest of us are, I find it very hard to think that he is anything but a victim of his own perceived brilliance. Maybe it's just the blunt way you Americans speak, or maybe it's my peculiarly English trait of self effacing modesty or death that's getting in the way here. But has anyone actually MET the guy and can they put me straight, or is he really a few grains short of a full load ?

Regards,

Mike H
 
Nope, never met the man, but I'd love to. I can perhaps address one or two of your questions, though.
1. It's quite common, at least in the US, to use what's referred to as the "editorial we" (not to be confused with the "royal we") when writing opinion pieces. I've no idea why this is, perhaps a journalism or English major might be able to say.
2. "Countess" is simply his "pet" name for his wife - mine is variously referred to as "ComNavHouseCom", "Whiskey-1" or "The Skipper."
3. Plain speaking (what you refer to as "blunt") used to be a quite admirable trait here in the US. Alas, it seems to have fallen into disfavor.

Don't know if this helps or not, but that's my 2¢.


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"...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Luke 22:36
"An armed society is a polite society."
Robert Heinlein
"Power corrupts. Absolute power - is kinda cool!"
Fred Reed
 
Never met him, but would love to. When I forst started reading his commentaries I thought the "royal we" thing was kin dof over the top also. But as mk86fcc stated it is somewhat common to use the we when writing opinions. This was especially common a few generations ago. As for his bluntness; that is part of the reason I like him. Used to be that speaking the truth and doing so in a straight forward manner was considered a positive trait, however, with the advent of political correctness we are driftring further and further from this.
 
1. Yep, he's blunt. Americans do tend to like that more than Europeans. My impression is that this only applies to some areas; apparently Europeans think we're hopelessly timid and shy when it comes to sex or nudity.

2. Yes, he uses the "we." Partly, I suspect, this is a sign of some arrogance. But if you've read the man, then you know how formal his writing is in general--to put it "bluntly," the man is older than the hills. He uses what we consider an old-fashioned way of writing. But it works.

3. Yes, I agree that he seems, just judging from his writings, to be pretty sure of himself if not downright arrogant. But confidence is another trait Americans admire. You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything, as one of our treasured songwriters put it. The bottom line I've gotten from a recent reading of To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth was that he IS arrogant but he's usually right. About 1% of the most arrogant, uppity people out there are that way because they've earned it by being right most of the time. When you're right--a lot--it's sometimes hard to be honest and plain-spoken without sounding arrogant.

So take his advice with a grain of salt, but try not to be too put off by his confidence and plain talk, because that's all it is.

(The above is only my opinion, your mileage may vary, etc. etc. etc.)
 
The owner of this forum knows and has, I think, hunted with Mr. Cooper. If you go into the Hunting threads archives of TFL you will find several first accounts of people who have been with the Man.

Sam...if you want it broken, bring it by and I will fix you right up.
 
I haven't met Col. Cooper and don't know anyone who has met him. I do very much enjoy his writings though.

The editorial "we" is a style thing, more in style a generation ago than now. One was taught that it was bad form to refer to oneself in one's writings, and thus when expressing opinions one was instructed to use "we." It indicates the author's generation, not his pride -- much in the same way that a preference for English spelling indicates one's nationality.

Is it arrogant to know you are right when stating facts and to believe you are right when giving opinions? If so, every writer who has ever put fingers to keyboard is arrogant.

Few things are more wearying to the (American?) reader than wading through disclaimer after disclaimer, to get to just one anemically expressed opinion backed up by one uncertain fact. The wordsmithing business requires a certain amount of confidence in oneself, if one is to succeed at it.

But in deference to European tastes: FWIW, YMMV, IMHO ... etc. :)

pax

"If you can't annoy somebody, there's little point in writing." -- Kingsley Amis

"Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others." -- Virginia Woolf
 
I havent meet him either but I do know people that do know him and have known him for a long time.I live about 35 miles or so from gunsite so he has been in the past done business in some of the same gun stores I have been in.
General opinion is yes he a crusty old man but he with what he has done he has a right to be.He is well liked as far as I know by most people.By the way with the change in ownership at gunsite he back out there and I hear doing some teaching again.
I hope to meet him sometime in the future just to say I have met a legend.



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Bob--- Age and deceit will overcome youth and speed.
I'm old and deceitful.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Isn't he the .25 ACP proponent? No?[/quote]

LOL, not hardly! From one of his commentaries: "We hear of an unfortunate woman who, during an nighttime asthma attack, confused the small handgun she kept under her pillow with an asthma inhaler and proceeded to relieve her symptoms. It was not a fatal mistake, partly because she used a .25 ACP, which everyone knows is not sufficient to clear sinuses." -- Jeff Cooper

pax


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"Is there anything wrong with a woman preferring the dignity of an armed citizen? I don't like to be coddled and I don't like to be treated like a minor child. So I waive immunity and claim my right -- I go armed." -- Longcourt Phyllis in Beyond This Horizon by Robert Heinlein
 
I have only read his editorials a few times and from what everyone says, he's the man. However, his old fashioned or antiquated style of writing is more smarmy than anything else. It's like reading a stilted, verbose version of the Farmer's almanac. a gun owner's Andy Rooney. The old fuddly dudly act gets old and he puts on the John Wayne B.S. a little too thick. He gives conservative gun owner's a look back at the way it was, rascism and all other negative aspects of the time included.

I am going to get fried for this. But hey, somebody has to have taste ? ;)
 
Guys,

We are pleased we your responses :)

I guess I was a little afraid of the flames but we all seem to be heading in roughly the same direction here, I'd certainly like to be around when someone disagrees with the venerable Colonel face to face though......
since I'm a dreaded Brit, his recommendation of .45 or nothing in handguns doesn't really affect me unless we're visiting my wifes home state where she can still exercise the 2nd, but I'll hold off on the Steyr Scout until I'm convinced it is 3 times better than a good Remington .308 (I believe that's about the price differential). He also junks DAO guns and safe action guns (for Gunsite at least) so all you cops out there should loose those Glock 22's. His columns certainly make for entertaining, if not a little aggravating reading.

Best

Mike H
 
I have met the Col and the rifle mod, Schmit, a GS grad and a fan, disagreed with several things the Col. mentioned.

One problem is - when your experiance is that broad, you have opinions that are very hard to change. Basis of experiance is pretty rare these days.

The other problem is taking anybody's writings either out of context or not considering the full works. True - Col. C is a die hard 1911 man - buthe has stated many times that it's the Indian, not the arrow. Show up with a gun that works.

Giz
 
Cooper has earned the right to use every "We" he feels like... and "Countess" is the propper title for his wife.
I met with him and talked to him at some length just this year - it was an honor.
You get a sense that the Coopers ARE Royalty in a sense - His daughter who I talked with, was a Queen in her own right.
Good People.
Read is Biography - and then ask these questions.
 
Lavan & pax:

I think you got it wrong - he's the proponent of the .25 ACP Magnum :D

Still ROTFL about your posts.
 
George Hill writes: <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"Countess" is the propper title for his wife.[/quote]Actually, I'm convinced that Mrs. Cooper's proper title is higher than "Countess."
As for some of the other points made:
Yes, he's opinionated. He's also more than willing to defend his opinions. While he does not approve of trigger-cocking only firearms, he thinks Glocks are acceptable. I'm not familiar with any stories about how clever he is and how stupid the rest of us are. Perhaps that's because I usually concur with his assessments. And no, I don't think he's "a few grains short of a full load."

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TB., NC
rosie.acmecity.com/bebe/6/index.html
 
Another forgotten rule of English is that whenever the sex of the person is unknown, you always defer to the male gender. Political Correctness has just about stamped this practice out, but I still do it to make my proffessors mad. English used to have almost as many masculine and feminine nouns as Spanish. Ships and cars were spoken of as she ie: she's a good car. Some things were referred to as he. In all cases like if you knew the person's name was Dr. Johnson, but you were unsure of the gender, you'd make the assumption of 'he'. Now we see everything written as He/She or S/he. IMO it makes things more complicated than it has to be. I don't give a tinker's damn about gender rules, but I like to see either a he or a she instead of s/he. the latter breaks up the flow.
 
Coop is da man! I love his no holds barred way of reporting. Wow, I wish we had more of his type. His bashing of S&W is and was great. I am sure glad he is on our side.

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"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."

--Ayn Rand, in "The Nature of Government"

http://hometown.aol.com//jsax13/web.html
Member NRA, GOA, JPFO, SAF, and CCRKBA.
 
Plain-spoken, yes!Let's see if I can get this reasonably close from memory ( the occasion was when N.Y. police comm. Murphy had stated that th people of the U.S. should be disarmed) " Write this down, Mr. Murphy: I will NOT be disarmed! NOT WHILE I LIVE "
Now THAT is what I call eloquence!!!
crankshaft
paranoia is just ginger-peachy when they're really after You!
 
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