Buckwheat Donahue on The Shooting of Dan McGrew

Buckwheat's Introduction to The Shooting of Dan McGrew

Memories by the Fire: My Connection to This Poem

"I grew up listening to The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew. Both of my grandparents—one from Colorado, one from Oklahoma—knew these poems by heart, and when we’d go hiking or hunting in the woods, they’d always recite them."

"For the longest time, I thought these were the only two pieces Robert Service ever wrote. It wasn’t until I moved to Alaska over 30 years ago that I realized just how much more there was."

"By the time I was 12, I had both of these poems memorized—because my grandparents made me! When we were out in the high country of the Colorado Rockies, sitting around the fire at night, they’d call me over: ‘Boy, come here—I got a story to tell you.’ And it was always The Cremation of Sam McGee or The Shooting of Dan McGrew."

"Even now, over 50 years later, whenever I perform these pieces, there are moments when I flash back to those campfires, to my grandparents, to those good times. So I’d like to thank Robert Service for writing these poems—because they’ve stayed with me my whole life."