ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ronald M. Koch was born in Oshkosh,
Wisconsin and grew up at Reighmoor on the south shore
of Lake Butte des in the heart of one of the
richest waterfowling areas in the state. He carved his first decoy in 1955 and his
lifelong interest in wooden decoys spawned his first book Decoys of the Winnebago Lakes. Behind the Back Shelf is his fourth book.
As Senior Field Editor for Hunting & Fishing Collectibles Magazine
since 2000, he wrote the popular column “From a River Rat’s Rig” for five years prior to the “Back
Shelf” columns. Ron is featured in the book Decoys, Sixty
Living and Outstanding North American Carvers by Loy Harrell, Jr.
Ron is retired from the United States
Postal Service. He and his wife, Connie,
a retired elementary school teacher, have four daughters and seven
grandchildren. They reside at historic Rivermoor near Omro, Wisconsin, just a few yards from the
site of one of the first French-Indian trading posts on the upper Fox River.
Ron admits that first and foremost he is
a duck hunter and that everything else is just something to pass the time
between seasons.
