Izaak Walton

I am reading Izaak Walton's classic, The Compleat Angler (or Contemplative Man's Recreation). The Modern Library edition I am reading has an introduction by former New York Times editor Howell Raines whom I met as a college journalism student in the 1980s. Raines is author of Flyfishing Through a Midlife Crisis.

Reading the book will not necessarily make you a better flyfisher, but it will help to connect you with the origins of trout flyfishing in 1653 in England. And it will situate your sport culturally and even spiritually.

In 1987 I worked as a speechwriter for former Secretary of the Interior, Don Hodel. One of my favorite assignments was to work with Secretary Hodel on a speech for the Izaak Walton League's International Conference on Outdoor Ethics. The speech was held at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.

Twenty-four years later I write this post and read Izaak Walton in Tulsa, Oklahome, where I am visiting family. I hope to take my dad, who introduced me to fishing as a kid, flyfishing in Ozarks soon!