March 2022 • Nebraskaland 49
for information on those old clubs."
Farrar collected, built, and, of course, used decoys, so it's no
surprise that he wrote several pieces on the history of decoys,
including Herter's, Mason, paper, miniature, Nebraska-made
and even live decoys.
For all of these pieces, Farrar talked to people who were
part of the history. Lots of them. He tracked down old men
who were market hunters, duck club members and ranchers.
He would sit in their kitchens, or in some cases, their rooms
at the local nursing home, turn on his cassette recorder, and
listen to the stories of their lives and those who came before
them. Sometimes he would go back for more.
Some believe that Farrar wrote some of these historical
pieces because he felt that if he didn't do it, no one would.
"He knew it was getting away," Van Winkle said. "Like we
all know, we lament the things we didn't do and the people
we didn't talk to and the records that we don't have. He did
something about it."
Colorful autumn leaves, fungi, moss and lichen adorn a fallen paper birch tree in this image Farrar captured in 2005 at the
Nature Conservancy's Niobrara Valley Preserve.
o be in a marsh. The rich, stagnant fragrance of marsh. The gray sky.
Drizzle on the neck. Squads of snow geese and courtship flights of
pintails. The scene cries out for description, yet defies it. A glimpse back
to our origins, a closeness to life other than our own, as if we belonged
somewhere, finally belong somewhere … ."
– Jon Farrar, from "Sky Carp"
"T
