Fighting Illini

Marion, Ill.

AS a farm boy growing up in southern Illinois, Glenn Poshard spent many summer evenings the same way. He would wade into a pond as his brother shone a flashlight from the shore at bullfrogs floating near the water’s edge. “Those frogs would freeze in place, just like deer caught in headlights,” says Poshard. “They never heard me coming.” Sneaking up from behind, Poshard would raise his barbed spear, and gig the stunned amphibians. On a good outing, the Poshard boys would bring home about 150 frogs. Nobody in White County was a better gigger than Froggy Poshard.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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Marion, Ill.

AS a farm boy growing up in southern Illinois, Glenn Poshard spent many summer evenings the same way. He would wade into a pond as his brother shone a flashlight from the shore at bullfrogs floating near the water’s edge. “Those frogs would freeze in place, just like deer caught in headlights,” says Poshard. “They never heard me coming.” Sneaking up from behind, Poshard would raise his barbed spear, and gig the stunned amphibians. On a good outing, the Poshard boys would bring home about 150 frogs. Nobody in White County was a better gigger than Froggy Poshard.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.