Datus C. Proper

Datus C. Proper (934-2003) was a political analyst with the U.S. State Department Foreign Service, an outdoors writer, and a fly fisherman.
==Early life and education==
Datus C. Proper was born on April 18, 1934 to William Glisan Proper and Marjorie Carryer Proper in Des Moines, Iowa.Scott, Kim Allen. “Biographical Note.” Datus C. Proper Papers, 1864-2003. Montana State University, Special Collections and Archival Informatics, 2010. He Proper grew up in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Yellowstone National Park.Brown, Kellyn. “Wildlife Author Dies Doing What He Loves.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, July 29, 2003. https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/wildlife-author-dies-doing-what-he-loves/article_efdd9c3d-4c30-5350-a3b7-0bfa3316404e.html. He then earned a scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.Vang, Paul. “Out There: A Tribute to One of Montana's Greats.” Montana Standard, August 14, 2003. https://mtstandard.com/lifestyles/recreation/out-there-a-tribute-to-one-of-montanas-greats/article_0f508e88-1327-5caa-9411-ac12cd724e51.html. When he graduated, he moved on to Cornell University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1956.
==Foreign Service career==
After Proper graduated from Cornell University, he joined the U.S. State Department. As a Foreign Service officer“Of Note: Datus Proper.” The Washington Post. WP Company, August 2, 2003. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/08/02/of-note/1243ec52-1396-4871-b62b-f122bb19c6ba/. and political analyst, he traveled to Angola, Brazil, Portugal and Ireland. While with the State Department, Proper also received an M.A. from George Washington University and completed a course of study at the National War College in 1978.
Proper retired from the State Departmentin 1987.“Datus C. Proper.” Pilates for Everyone. Pilates in Motion Studio, 2000. https://www.pilatesinmotionstudio.com/datus-c-proper/. Following his retirement, Proper and his family moved to the Gallatin Valley in Montana, where he began a full-time career as a writer.
==Writing career==
During Proper’s time with the State Department, he wrote and published a number of sporting articles as well as his first book, What the Trout Said. After becoming a full-time writer, Proper was a regular contributor to Field and Stream Magazine and wrote hundreds of articles for other outdoors publications. He also wrote several more books.
==Personal life==
Proper met his future wife, Anna Therese Collins, in Ireland while he was serving in the country with the U.S. State Department. In 1975, the couple married, and they had two sons. 
==Later years==
Just before his death, Proper completed a rough draft of a new book on hunting. On July 27, 2003, Datus Proper drowned while fishing in the Hyalite Creek outside of Bozeman, Montana. According to authorities, he slipped on rocks and hit his head.
==Selected publications==
* Proper, Datus C. Running Waters. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2001.
* Proper, Datus C. Pheasants of the Mind : A Hunter's Search for a Mythic Bird. Limited ed. Bozeman, MT: Wilderness Adventures Press, 1994.
* Proper, Datus C. The Last Old Place : A Search through Portugal. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
* Proper, Datus C. What the Trout Said about the Design of Trout Flies and Other Mysteries. 1st ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982.
 
Category:1934 births
Category:2003 deaths
Category:People from Des Moines, Iowa
Category:Cornell University alumni