The Real Ryman Setter: A History With Stories from the Appalachian Grouse Covers
Walter A. Lesser is a retired biologist with 42 years in wildlife management for the State of West Virginia. He resides in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia and has written many wildlife or dog-related articles, papers and reports. Walt acquired his first Ryman-bred setter in 1958 and, with a few dedicated Ryman fanciers, bred, trained and hunted over these setters, primarily on grouse and woodcocks, for more than half a century. Few people alive possess this first hand experience with setters bred by George Ryman, making Walt uniquely qualified to present their history. Lisa M. Weisse is a college music teacher and avid outdoors person who grew up in the West. Her interest in setters began in 1986 with the gift of a puppy named October who was descended from Ryman bloodlines. Pursuing grouse, woodcock, and western covey birds with that wonderful dog sparked a lifelong obsession with English setters. She and her husband Cliff live on Idaho's Yellowstone plateau where, along with careers in the fly-fishing business, they breed Ryman-type setters under the kennel name October.