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When he's ready to hit the word processor, McGuane heads out to his office, a freestanding shed with a porch overlooking the banks of the Boulder River. By the door is a fishing rod he keeps just in case the trout start to jump. Fishing, McGuane explains, is just another way for him to stay in touch with the "spirit and poetry of the natural world." Maintaining a primal connection to the environment is essential to McGuane, for both his peace of mind and his work. "I feel strongly that writers need to be some place," he says. "The real thing, the real job of artists of any kind is to somehow seize the life you're having in an unrelinquishing grip." McGuane is sure to continue doing exactly that. But, just in case, he keeps his epitaph handy. His eyes gleam with mischief as he repeats it: "No stone unturned -- except this one."