Col. Cooper Quote?

[OderintDumMetuant]

An acquaintance mentioned a quote from Col. Cooper along the lines of "if your pistol is out of arm's reach, we apologize for not training you well enough."

Google can't find it, so I figured some of you all might have a copy of the Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip with Concordance.

 

[mdsteele]

http://www.dvc.org.uk/~johnny/jeff/

Check it out if you want. I haven't finished reading it yet, but it kinda sounds like something the guru would come up with. Jeff is da man!

 

[Trisha]

The Colonel made that comment, almost verbatim as I recall, when Susan was a student of his in 1996, while breaking for lunch on the last day (I was there to deliver some more ammunition to her), for duelling competition, and another run through the fun house. I don't recall seeing it in the few books of his I have here at the house.

A most remarkable man. He taught the entire class while recovering from a broken back from safari, only conceeding to the Dutchess to sit occasionally (I do not know details of his injuries then, save to believe it was possibly a cracked vertebrea. He was fully ambulatory, regularly demonstrating with live fire, though he dealt with significant pain with barely perceptable imparement).

I will never forget him, and still hope I can find the financial means to see Susan and I students of his one more time.

Trisha

 

[El Tejon]

Oder, it's in the Gargantuan. IIRC, it was (paraphrasing) "If your pistol is not within arm's reach, then you did not get your money out of Gunsite."

 

[Sunray]

Cooper is nuts but he does have a way with words. Try a net search for Jeff Cooper. There's a site with all his pontifications on it.

 

[R-Tex12]

Cooper is nuts but he does have a way with words.

Uh oh!

R-Tex

 

[Tim Burke]

From Gunsite Gossip, Vol III, Number 3, February, 1983

Is your pistol within easy reach as you read this? If not, you did not get your money's worth out of API.

Let me know when you publish your book or open your school, Sunray.

 

[El Tejon]

Ah, that's it. Thanks for looking that up, Tim.

 

[Shooter 2.5]

Trisha,

Before the stories start about Cooper's back being broken on Safari from rampaging animals, Cooper told me he broke his back after falling off a balcony from a gust of wind.

I was shocked to say the least and didn't intrude any further. He seemed like he didn't want to talk about it so I let it go. He was in pain when I took his course in 1999. It was so bad that I saw him trying to figure out how to negotiate a simple three inch step on the pavement.

As far as people criticizing him for his demeaner, I think it may be because he has to change people's attitudes in a very short time. He has no patience for fools. It also makes him an very good teacher for people who wish to be there. He had repeatedly said he liked teaching people who paid there way to be there. He didn't care for the ones who were there on someone else's dime like government types.

Cooper believes in aimed fire. Applegate believed in point shooting.

If you had a chance to hang around either man, Applegate was a fun guy. He really liked where he was at in life. He acted like an enthusiastic kid in a candy store. Cooper has his agenda and he tried to make sure everyone stays safe. Whether they want to or not.

I always tried not to go into hero worship, but those guys come very close.