These recollections span eight decades and two continents, complete with photos, excerpts from letters written more than 30 years ago, and contributions from other people. Some of the stories originally appeared online in the California Flyway Forum or in the California Waterfowl Association's quarterly magazine.

Peter Arnold was born in San Francisco in 1924, served in the Navy during WW II, and earned a Master's Degree in Forestry from Yale. His first job, in Southern Brazil, started him on an international career, mostly in Latin America, but in Australasia as well. He lived four years in Ecuador as a Forestry Advisor to its government. Also, on his ranch in the Sierra Foothills of California, he established one of the region's first post-prohibition vineyards.

Now retired and no longer able to engage in outdoor activities, he remains vitally interested in several hunting and fishing groups. His lifelong passion for those sports has yielded a lifetime's worth of valuable advocacy and treasured friendships. He and his wife, Sarah, live near Grass Valley, California.

"The richness of Peter's experiences are not simply measured by the rewards and failures ... but rather by the memory that these things actually happened and were not just dreams of things that only might have happened. Even the heartbreaks are entertaining."

-Frank Hall, author of They Came to Shoot: a History of California Duck Clubs and Wetlands Conservation

"To anyone that has hunted, fished or just enjoyed the outdoors, this book is written for you. Each story made me want to read another."

-Rick Schussel, elite member of the California Flyway Forum and also very active with many other waterfowl organizations

"Peter has developed a gift for storytelling that takes the waterfowl hunter and fisherman in all of us along for the ride. Make sure you give yourself enough time to read Ripples on the Water in one sitting. For once you start, you won't easily put the book down."

-Will Baer, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at USC