Alex and Walt

Walt and Lewis

Alex, Walt, Bobby, Carl

T he Everlasting Stream , a moving documentary based on the memoir of the same name by Walt Harrington, airs Thursday, Nov. 15 at 10 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS.

The Everlasting Stream recalls Harrington's first hunting trip with his father-in-law, Alex, in Barren County, Ky. Walt had never shot a rabbit. A high-profile Washington Post reporter with a taste for manicures and expensive suits, he felt silly in his borrowed hunting gear, not quite knowing how to hold the shotgun Alex had given him as a gift. And he worried about whether he would get along with Alex's hunting buddies, Bobby, Lewis and Carl -- three rough-edged African-American country men who seemed to have nothing in common with the white city slicker. Little did he know that over the next two decades, these four "good ol' country guys" would change not only his opinions about hunting, but his feelings about the things that mattered most to him.

When his son, Matt, turned 12, Walt began to take him hunting, too, believing his suburban boy would benefit from spending time in the forests and fields and seeing his grandfather with men whose idea of love and friendship always put actions before words.

Over Thanksgiving morning rabbit hunts and a steady stream of wisecracks (especially about the time he accidentally sprayed his father-in-law with shotgun pellets), Walt came to appreciate the value of old-fashioned friendship and masculinity, the complexities of guilt and responsibility, and the enduring magic of a memorable moment.

By turns witty, revelatory and elegant, The Everlasting Stream, for which Harrington won a regional Emmy for writing, reminds viewers of the small and not-so-small treasures in life.

The Everlasting Stream is a production of KET, Kentucky's statewide public television network. The program is produced by Timothy Bischoff, Harrington and Matt Grimm. Nancy Carpenter is executive producer.