Duke and Mark

Mark Hampton

Still reeling from Duke’s death, the collective here at Publishers’ Development Corporation had work to do. Aside from our personal feelings, we had to deal with the business aspects of Mike’s death because while the world ebbs and flows, publishing deadlines never sleep.

It was obvious we couldn’t fill his spot because there is only one Montana Musings. To have someone take over the spot would be impossible so we had to discuss how to best fill the literal hole on our pages. There was also the matter of how we should publicly remember Mike without getting sappy, maudlin or weepy. During that week I often found myself saying “This is awful. I sure hope it doesn’t happen again anytime soon.”

Shortly thereafter, we got the news about Mark Hampton.

I’m not so egocentric to believe fate specifically seeks me out for a slap to the face whenever I deserve it. However, I couldn’t help feeling a small pang of culpability.

It was a Sunday morning when I got a text message about Mark possibly dying in Africa. We started burning up phone lines until Roy Huntington went directly to the source and called Mark’s wife, Karen. She confirmed the worse.

Mark was on day two of safari and “apparently” dropped dead from natural causes. I use quotes because I’m still not sure of the details as the civil authorities in the African hinterlands don’t conduct death investigations like they do in L.A., or even Squirrel Fart, Arkansas. At last word, a heart attack felled Mark.

My final communication with Mark was regarding a story assignment. He had just received a new gun and said he would finish the review “as soon as I get back from Tanzania.” That’s Mark — treating a trip to Africa to shoot exotic game with a handgun like he was making an overnighter to St. Louis.

Unlike our sister publication American Handgunner, Mark wasn’t a monthly contributor to GUNS but I tried to use his stories whenever possible. I know our audience isn’t “into” handgun hunting as much as other topics but I always found Mark’s adventures fascinating and a great example of what can be accomplished with a little planning and a lot of grit. For instance, how many of us have suddenly faced a gorilla a few feet away as we’re sitting under a tree with a pygmy? Mark did in the last story I published.

I once met Mark at the SHOT Show and he was everything I imagined — a down-home school teacher from Missouri who happened to hunt remarkable creatures in places where you need permission from a warlord for safe passage. I’ve always said if he had a much bigger ego or a good manager, he’d have a major-network television show and millions of dollars in endorsements. As it were, he was a just an ordinary midwestern guy who liked to hunt in the craziest of places while slinging words to help pay the bills.