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SEPTEMBER 2019 blademag.com 53knives regularly.”
From there Onion turned the
microphone over to Benchmade
founder and fellow Cutlery Hall-Of-
Famer Les de Asis.
“It’s been our pleasure, both my family
and our employees, and everyone we
work with in our circle, to share time with
the inductee,” de Asis said. “He’s a Rock
of Gibraltar in times of trouble, a beacon
in dark times. I can’t tell you how much
respect and admiration we have for Mel,
and how meaningful our relationship
with him and his family has been.”
Obviously moved by the award
and surrounded by his family and his
Benchmade friends, Pardue thanked
everyone involved and huddled with
family and friends for photographs amidst
applause from the reception audience.
STEVE SHACKLEFORD
Steve Shackleford’s induction was a
surprise to most everyone there—
including the inductee himself. Gun
Digest LLC Group Publisher Jim
Schlender took the microphone and
asked Bruce Voyles to say a few words,
and Voyles warmed to the subject. Th e
former BLADE publisher and editor
explained how the normal induction
protocol was for Hall-Of-Fame members
to nominate candidates and then vote on
them, but, as he noted, “Occasionally we
have varied from that.” One such instance
was when Voyles himself was inducted
by acclimation of sitting Hall-Of-Fame
members in 1993, and so too, everyone
was about to learn, would be Shackleford.
“I’m very proud that I have edited
magazines for 31 years,” Voyles said.
“[But] I don’t have the record. Th ere’s
one person who has edited knife
magazines longer than any person on
the face of this earth. If you have a job
for over 33 years in what Uncle Henry
Baer called ‘our little industry,’ you
have given far and beyond and above
countless and countless times.”
Voyles hired Shackleford as
managing editor of BLADE in 1985 and
appointed him editor in 1991, the latter
a position Shackleford has held ever
since, including for no fewer than four
diff erent owners in all.
“He’s a damn fi ne editor, and much of
the growth that we had during my tenure
as owner of BLADE was thanks to his
very fi ne editing,” Voyles said. “Steve is
one of those people when you ask him to
do something, there’s no hassle, there’s
no aggravation, there’s no excuses, and
when it’s done, it’s done properly.“Th is is his night so I’m going to shut
up, but I am going to tell you one thing:
if I was starting a new knife magazine
tomorrow, which I’m not, and I wanted
the best editor I could fi nd, despite the
fact knowing that he’s loyal and would
not leave this job, my fi rst call would be
to the newest member of the BLADE
Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame, Steve
Shackleford.”
Shackleford joins Voyles, Bill Moran,
B.R. Hughes, Jim Batson, William
Scagel, Bo Randall, Rudy Ruana, Jimmy
Lile, Ken Warner, Houston Price and
James Bowie as the only people to
enjoy membership in both the BLADE
Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame and
also the American Bladesmith Society
Hall Of Fame.For the latest knives, knife news, trends
and more visit blademag.com, BLADE®’s
popular Instagram page at @blade_
magazine, and on Facebook and Tw i t t e r.Tony Bose pauses to reflect during
his induction acceptance speech.
(Mark Han image)