Well-known outdoor writer Wade Bourne has passed away, according to a post on the
Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Facebook page. According to reports, Bourne suffered a heart attack Thursday while cutting down a Christmas tree. He was 69.
Last month, Bourne attended the annual Strike King writer's conference at Kentucky Lake and appeared to be in good health.
"There was no finer gentleman and professional in this sport than Wade Bourne," said fellow B.A.S.S. senior writer Louie Stout, whose relationship with Bourne spanned more than three decades. "I haven't done this for several years, but whenever I got into a situation and I couldn't decide how I should handle it, I'd call him for advice, and his advice was always dead-on. I guarantee you anybody who knew him would tell you the same thing.
"He's the guy I wanted to model myself after as far as being a good person and a true professional with class. I lack his class, but I tried to do everything else like he would. My heart is just crushed."
Bourne was among the most recognized writers and broadcasters in the outdoor media. His print, television and radio work in the fishing and hunting industries spanned four decades, including 16 years as the host of In-Fisherman Radio, which was the largest syndicated outdoor radio show in North America.
Tommy Akin, the longtime outdoor writer liaison for Strike King, had known Bourne since the early 1970s when Bourne was writing for a newspaper in Murray, Ky.
"He was one of the good ol' boys of the outdoor industry and he and I hunted and fished together for many years," Akin said. "I had the utmost respect for him, as did everybody in the industry. He was always true blue and told it like it was."
Bourne was a 2003 inductee into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame and a 2005 inductee into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. In 2014, the SEOPA awarded Bourne its Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his contribution to the membership’s profession and crafts and as someone who made improvements to the organization.
Last July, Bourne received the 2016 Homer Circle Fishing Communicator Award from the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA).
He was editor-at-large for Ducks Unlimited Magazine and senior writer for Bassmaster Magazine. He had more than 3,000 articles published in outdoor magazines. He also authored six books.
Bourne hosted/co-hosted Ducks Unlimited TV over the past 10 years and also hosted the weekly hunting/fishing adventure series Advantage Outdoors TV on the now-defunct The Nashville Network (TNN).
Bourne was a U.S. Air Force pilot before beginning his career in outdoor communications. A resident of Clarksville, Tenn., Bourne is survived by his wife, Becky, and two grown children, Hampton and Haley.
