“I think I fish, in part, because it’s an anti-social, bohemian business that when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution.” - John Gierach
It’s fair to say I found John Gierach’s writing before I found fly fishing. While I can’t attribute his books exclusively to my decision to try slinging line, he definitely influenced it. In fact I didn’t seriously take up the fly rod until a decade after I read him for the first time. Over two decades have passed since I first bought one of his books and his words have yet to dull or bore me.
A pile of books, essays, paragraphs and words that will never be matched.
August, 23rd, 2003 is the date penned in a dog-eared corner of Death, Taxes and Leaky Waders, a compilation of essays from six of his books. The first piece in the book was “Camp Coffee” and I’ve been an unrepentant fan ever since. John’s writing transcended fly fishing, inspiring a desire to live life fully. He took the everyday person and expressed their thoughts in a way we couldn’t. He made connections in his experiences and put them to words, words that captivated us for decades. He was a rare thinker and writer, a one in a million wordsmith who could have kept me engrossed in almost any topic, lucky for us he chose fly fishing.
My first exposure to him had me drawing parallels to my winter life, hanging up the tool belt after a summer of slinging concrete, working odd hours in a ski shop so I could follow my dream of being a ski bum. After a few injuries I spent several seasons dedicated to my fly rods, chasing the local rainbows and bull trout while spending late summer in Ontario after bass and pike. The more I fished the more I read John’s books, over the years developing a Pavlovian response to rumours a new one was coming.
Having finished All the Time in the World, John’s last book I was eagerly anticipating at least one more. While I understood he was aging, the thought that there would be an end to his words never really materialized. We are all racing to an inevitable end, sadly John came to his October 3rd, 2024. I found out through a social media post, it felt wrong, inappropriate, the gravity of finding one of your two favourite authors has passed should have been an article from proper news source, not a link looking for “likes”. When the snows of winter come down I will make sure to spend some days with a pot of coffee perusing my favourite essays from a solid library of John Gierach’s tomes.
See you on the water or the mountains.
-Matthew Mallory
ความคิดเห็น