The American Fly Fisher - American Museum of Fly Fishing · The American Fly Fisher(ISSN 0884-3562)...

SPRING 2009 VOLUME 35 NUMBER 2

American

Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing

The

Fly Fisher

AS MANY OF YOU are aware, it’s thenature of publications for staff to beworking on an issue’s words and

images—like the ones you hold in yourhands right now—months in advance ofsaid issue’s in-house arrival. Here we are indeep-freeze January putting together thelast of the words you will read in the Spring2009 issue. By the time you open its pages,even we in the Northeast will be donning ourwaders and hitting the local trout streams,which today seems like a distant dream.

I have a springlike excitement, though,about this issue. If you want to learn a littleabout some of the characters who haveshaped (and are shaping) fly-fishing histo-ry, you’ve come to the right place.

Clarence Anderson notes that until thepub lication of A. J. Campbell’s Classic &Antique Fly-Fishing Tackle, John G. Landmanof Brooklyn, New York, was just anotherobscure rodmaker of his time, sorely ig -nored in rodmaking histories. By insistingon Landman’s importance, Campbell ele-vated the rodmaker’s status, provokinginterest in Landman in collectors and his-torians alike. This interest has, according toAnderson, ultimately served to reveal thatsome of Campbell’s conclusions were pre-mature. In “The Invisible Man: John G.Landman” (page 2), Anderson shares whathe has since learned about Landman, not-ing that his own examination “may inspireothers to correct its errors and improve onits inadequacies.”

In “Chauncy Lively: An Innovative FlyTier and a Consummate Fly Fisherman,”Hoagy B. Carmichael reflects on his friend-ship with “the fly tier’s fly tier.” Lively, theoriginator of reverse palmering, authoredthe now-difficult-to-obtain Chauncy Lively’sFlybox and was a longtime columnist forPennsylvania Angler magazine. Carmichaelgives a good biographical overview ofLively and his wife Marion, noting especial-ly the importance of the couple’s friendshipwith rodmaker Paul Young and his wife

Martha. To learn more about this legendfrom one who knew him, turn to page 10.

Kay Brodney, tournament caster, is thesubject of this issue’s “Gallery” piece (page17). Brodney, once a trustee of the museum,donated two early fiberglass fly rods madeby the Reelon Rod Co. Nathan George, in“Casting for Action, Not Attention: KayBrodney’s Fiberglass Rods,” highlights thisearly-1980s acquisition and gives us someBrodney background as well.

With this issue, we launch what we hopewill become a semiregular department called“Keepers of the Flame.” The idea is to high-light the contributions of contemporaryartisans and craftsmen. Trustee John Mundt,in this inaugural column, begins with “PerBrandin: Split-Cane Rodbuilder.” Mundttells us a bit about how Brandin got fromopening that first Orvis Madison bambookit in the late 1960s to becoming a rodbuilderwith “an order backlog ap proaching adecade and a closed waiting list.” You’ll findthis profile on page 18.

News of museum activities, both recentand future, can be found on page 20. In“Notes from the Library” (page 19), GeraldKaraska re views a recently acquired title:Diane K. Inman’s The Fine Art of Angling:Ten Modern Masters, a book that showcasesimages by contemporary angling artists.

With springlike enthusiasm, we take spe-cial notice of those who helped us be amuseum in 2008, both financially (see pages22–24) and by volunteering (see ExecutiveDirector Cathi Comar’s “Thank You, Vol -unteers” on the inside back cover). Andmany thanks to each and every one of ourmembers, whose support makes possibleour ability to continue to, in accordancewith our mission statement, promote “anunderstanding of and appreciation for thehistory, traditions, and practitioners, pastand present, of the sport of fly fishing.”

KATHLEEN ACHOREDITOR

Profiles in Fly Fishing

Alan Airth (’08)Robert Brucker (’08)C. Austin Buck (’08)Larry Cohen (’08)

Donald Christ (’08)David DiPiero (’08)

Domenic DiPiero (’08)John Dreyer Sr. (’08)Fredrik Eaton (’08)Michael Geitz (’08)

Jon Gibson (’08)Thomas Gravina (’08)James Houghton (’08)

John Kaiser (’08)Fred Kambeitz (’08)

Charles Kirkland Kellogg (’08)Peter Kellogg (’08)Steve Lampe (’08)Mike McCall (’08)

Stephen Myers (’08)Robert O’Hara III (’08)

Frederick G. Weeman (’08)Patrick Welsh (’08)Greg Wheeler (’08)

Catherine E. ComarExecutive Director

Yoshi AkiyamaDeputy Director

Sarah MooreProject & Administrative Coordinator

Kim MurphyEvents Coordinator

Patricia RussellAccount Manager

Sara WilcoxDirector of Visual Communication

denotes additional levels of giving

THE AMERICAN MUSEUMOF FLY FISHING

Preserving the Heritageof Fly Fishing

Kathleen AchorEditor

Sara WilcoxDesign & Production

Sarah May ClarksonCopy Editor

F R I E N D S O F T H E M U S E U M

S T A F F

THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER

Gordon Allen

S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 VO L U M E 3 5 N U M B E R 2

the American Museum of Fly FishingJournal of

The Invisible Man: John G. Landman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Clarence Anderson

Chauncy Lively: An Innovative Fly Tierand a Consummate Fly Fisherman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Hoagy B. Carmichael

Gallery: Casting for Action, NotAttention: Kay Brodney’s Fiberglass Rods . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Nathan George

Keepers of the Flame:Per Brandin: Split-Cane Rodbuilder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

John Mundt

Notes from the Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Gerald Karaska

Museum News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Museum Donors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

ON THE COVER: Chauncy Lively at his tying vise. From the Chauncy LivelyArchive, courtesy of Anne Lively and Claudia Lively DeVito.

We welcome contributions to the American Fly Fisher. Before making a submission,please review our Contributor’s Guidelines on our website (www.amff.com), or write torequest a copy. The museum cannot accept responsibility for statements and interpre-tations that are wholly the author’s.

Michael BakwinFoster Bam

Pamela BatesDuke Buchan III

Peter CorbinJerome C. DayBlake Drexler

Christopher GarciaRonald Gard

George R. Gibson IIIGardner L. GrantJames Hardman

James Heckman, MDArthur Kaemmer, MD

Woods King IIICarl R. Kuehner IIIWilliam P. Leary III

Douglas F. MacKenzieWalter T. Matia

John R. McMahonWilliam C. McMaster, MD

Bradford MillsJohn Mundt

David NicholsWayne Nordberg

Erik R. OkenRaymond C. Pecor

Stephen M. PeetLeigh H. Perkins

Frederick S. PolhemusJohn Rano

Roger RiccardiKristoph J. Rollenhagen

Philip SawyerRobert G. Scott

Franklin G. Schurz Jr.Gary J. Sherman, DPM

Ronald B. StuckeyRichard G. TischDavid H. WalshJames C. Woods

T R U S T E E S

Charles R. EichelG. Dick Finlay

W. Michael FitzgeraldWilliam Herrick

Robert N. JohnsonDavid B. Ledlie

Leon L. MartuchKeith C. RussellPaul Schullery

Chairman of the BoardPresident

Vice Presidents

SecretaryClerk

Treasurer

David H. WalshGeorge R. Gibson IIIJames Heckman, MDStephen M. PeetRichard G. TischJames C. WoodsCharles R. EichelRobert G. Scott

O F F I C E R S

T R U S T E E S E M E R I T I

The American Fly Fisher (ISSN 0884-3562) is published

four times a year by the museum at P.O. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254.

Publication dates are winter, spring, summer, and fall. Membership dues include the cost of the

journal ($40) and are tax deductible as provided for by law. Membership rates are listed in the back of each issue. Single

copy price is $10.00 per issue. All letters, manuscripts, photographs, and materials intended for publication in the jour-

nal should be sent to the museum. The museum and journal are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, drawings,

photographic material, or memorabilia. The museum cannot accept responsibility for statements and interpretations that

are wholly the author’s. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returned unless postage is provided. Contributions to The

American Fly Fisher are to be considered gratuitous and the property of the museum unless otherwise requested

by the contributor. Copyright © 2009, the American Museum of Fly Fishing, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Original mate-

rial appearing may not be reprinted without prior permission. Periodical postage paid at Manchester, Vermont 05254;

Manchester, Vermont 05255; and additional offices (USPS 057410). The American Fly Fisher (ISSN 0884-3562)

EMAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: www.amff.com

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The American Fly Fisher, P.O. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254.

2 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER

THE HISTORY OF American rodmak-ing seemed, toward the close of thelast century, to have been thor-

oughly investigated by Martin J. Keane’sClassic Rods and Rodmakers, ErnestSchwiebert’s Trout, a few other less influ-ential books, and numerous studies inthe American Fly Fisher, such as those ofMary Kelly. To be sure, many details ofthe lives and careers of the major rod-makers remained uncertain, or even en -tirely unknown, but most students of thesubject would probably have believed itinconceivable that the name of one ofthe most prolific and influential buildersof the late nineteenth century was noteven listed in any of the reference sourcesmentioned above.

This “invisibility” was at last dispelledby the publication of A. J. Campbell’shistorical tour de force, Classic & AntiqueFly-Fishing Tackle, in 1997. Campbell’sresearch and startling conclusions com-pelled collectors and angling historiansalike to take notice of a name thenknown only to a handful of tackle deal-ers and antique rod connoisseurs: “thesingle most obscure” rodmaker of histime, John George Landman, of Brook -lyn, New York.1 Those same collectorsand historians of course knew that there

were plenty of other obscure buildersproducing unremarkable rods in limitednumbers, generally using ready-maderod fittings, such as those supplied byThomas Chubb. Campbell took it uponhimself to elucidate, with convincingzeal, that Landman was no such minorleaguer, but on the contrary deservedrecognition as an important manufac-turer of top-quality rods of all vari-eties—“some of the most beautiful everto enter the market”—for many of themost prestigious tackle retailers, such asthe historic New York City houses ofAbbie & Imbrie and Thomas J. Conroy.2

Although Landman also marketed(how remains unknown) in very limitednumbers rods bearing his own name(J. G. LANDMAN—MAKER—BROOKLYN,N.Y.), his greatest influence in the tackletrade was the manufacture—in whatCampbell insisted on calling his “sweat-shop”—of some of the most finely craft-ed rod furniture produced in America.But the freshet of “Landmania” thatCampbell himself thus stimulated hasserved to reveal, over the last decade, thatsome of his conclusions were premature,even as this examination may inspireothers to correct its errors and improveon its inadequacies.

THE HUNT FOR LANDMAN

The overwhelming majority ofLandman-attributed rods bear othernames—the retailers, that is, who com-missioned them—but this is not the onlyreason Campbell’s “single most obscure”appellation is so appropriate. Whether bydesign or accident, Landman left fewtracks in the places they might be expect-ed: advertising (or other mention) insporting periodicals, for example, orsponsorship of the casting tournamentsso popular in his day. His name doesappear in some commercial directories ofthe time, but his footprint there is notlarge: the earliest listing discovered thusfar is the 1879 edition of Lain’s BrooklynBusiness Directory, in which his profes-sion is given as “fishing rod maker” at 17Melrose, Brooklyn. His listing is alteredin the 1885 Lain’s to simply “tackle” andagain in the 1895 edition to “fish rods,”with the address of 59 Cedar Street, hisresidence for the remainder of his life.Included in the 1905 edition of Uping ton’sGeneral Directory of Brooklyn is JohnLandman Jr. (but not his father), whoseoccupation is given as “fish rods.” In whatis often regarded as the Yellow Pages ofthe time, Trow’s Business Directory of

The Invisible Man: John G. Landmanby Clarence Anderson

Ca. 1900 J. G. Landman maker’s mark.

Photos by Clarence Anderson

SPRING 2009 3

Greater New York—organized by tradesand products, rather than alphabetizedsurname—no listing during the 1890shas been found. Remaining aloofthroughout his life from the retail side ofthe tackle market, and presumablyknowing his New York City–area tradingpartners personally, Landman perhapsbelieved that advertising to the publicconferred no benefits on his largelywholesale business. “Absence of evidenceis not evidence of absence,” as thearchaeologists say, but thus far the dili-gent research of several investigators hasfailed to discover a single Landman ad -vertisement.

The hard, verifiable facts uncoveredthus far about Landman can be related ina single paragraph. He emerges brieflyout of his obscurity on page 15 of the1880 U.S. Census for Kings County(Brooklyn), where he is identified as a“fish tackle maker,” aged thirty-twoyears. His household included a wife,Bertha, of the same age, and four chil-dren: John G. Jr., aged eight; Maggie, five;Minnie, three; and Anna, an infant.Landman’s birthplace is given as NewYork, but that of his father and mother asBavaria, suggesting the family probablyfelt comfortable among the largeGerman emigrant community thenmaking “the City of Trees” its home. Thiscensus seems to be the only one between1860 and 1910 in which the Landmans

were enumerated. In 1890, he was award-ed Letters Patent No. 434793 for one ofthe earliest locking reel-seat designs, thefirst patented use of the screw-lock prin-ciple. On 29 March 1917, John Sr., “a wellknown fishing rod manufacturer,” died“after a lingering illness,” according tohis brief obituary notice in the followingday’s New York Times.3 Exactly the samenotice appeared in the Brooklyn Eagle.

Well, make that two paragraphs,because the Times obituary writer, whilesaying no more about Landman’s busi-ness interests, thought it relevant to addin the next day’s edition—that of March31—that the deceased was a chartermember of the Jamaica Bay Yacht Cluband an organizing member of the BelleIsland Yacht Club. Perhaps this addition-al detail (not reported, strangely, by theEagle) does tells us something more,indirectly, about Landman’s career: thatit was successful enough to allow him toindulge in what is ordinarily considereda rich man’s hobby. Familiarity withthese tantalizing details of Landman’spersonal life possibly prompted Campbellto make the startling and unexplained(most regrettably) assertion that “he wasnot a fisherman.”4

As there are fly tiers—a few, at anyrate—devoid of any serious interest infishing, it is not inconceivable that thereare rodmakers of the same ilk. Butwhereas ignorance of fishing might not

gravely handicap the former, ignoranceof casting must unavoidably impair thework of any rodmaker. Thus, it is gratify-ing to discover evidence that Landman, ifnot a passionate angler, was at least askilled caster. At the Madison SquareGarden Sportsmen’s Exposition of 1897,Forest and Stream (one of the promotersof the event) reported that one “John T.Landman” placed second in the “ObstacleFly Casting for Accuracy and Delicacy”contest and fifth in the “Single-HandedLong-Distance Fly Casting” event.5 Per -haps he competed in other events, butusually only the top five or so finisherswere identified. That this initial T in thecontestant’s name was a typographicalerror seems beyond doubt (HiramHawes’s name was also misspelled here),because at the following year’s exposi-tion, John G. Landman is identified inthe program as referee of another of themany casting competitions, the “BlackBass Fly Casting” event.6 Why, if trou-bling to attend the exposition at all, heparticipated in no other capacity, is amystery.

But not the greatest mystery, which isthe true identity of the George Landmanfor whom scores were recorded in sever-al other casting events that year of 1898.The most obvious candidate is son JohnJr., although there is no record of himbeing called by his middle name; in fact,newspaper accounts of the BushwickWheelmen cycling club, of which John Jr.was a prominent member, reveal that hisnickname among that group was Pom -pa dour John!7 Nevertheless, when fatherand son share the same name, familiesoften settle on some simple expedient fordistinguishing between them, and refer-ring to John Jr. by his middle namewould have served as one such means ofavoiding confusion. As with so many otherLandman uncertainties, this one remainsfor others to resolve. No Landmans at allare recorded as participating in later expo-sitions, which attracted such angling ce -leb rities as Reuben Leonard, his cousinHiram Hawes and bride Cora Leonard,most of the Mills family, and other nota-bles too numerous to list.

THE THOMAS & EDWARDS

CONTROVERSY

Campbell’s most controversial con-clusion regarding the nature of Land -man’s operation, pronounced with a con -fidence that implies evidence beyond merespeculation, was this: “The shafts . . . werenot built at his factory because Landmanhad no facilities for their construction.”8

Valid this assessment may be, but disqui-eting to some readers was the absence of

Patent marking on screw-lock ring, which (unusually)is also repeated on black celluloid seat.


even so much as a suggestion as to thenature of the evidence that impelled theauthor to such an unequivocal judgment.Did examination of the cane work ondifferent specimens of rods assumed tohave been assembled by Landmandemonstrate that they were probablyconstructed in different shops, by differ-ent craftsmen? Has a floor plan, equip-ment inventory, or eyewitness descrip-tion of his shop that failed to mention“facilities for their construction” beendiscovered?

Some continued uncertainty aboutthe matter may be warranted because by1884, the year that Landman began sup-plying his distinctive work to T. J.Conroy’s famous Manhattan tackle store(according to Campbell’s canny inter-pretation of subtle changes in Conroy’sadvertising), split-cane construction wasno longer the arcane craft it had beentwenty years earlier.9 (An outstandingexample of one of these early Conroys ison exhibit in one of the museum’s per-manent display cases.) Enough of the“secret” of Leonard’s revolutionary bevel-ing machine had seeped out, or beenguessed, to allow others to constructsimilar devices, and a considerable bodyof workmen, it seems reasonable to be -lieve, had by then learned the rudimentsof the craft. Those rudiments could beacquired, in all probability, at least asquickly as the skill in precision solderingnecessary to fabricate the impeccablyexecuted nickel-silver ferrules and reelseats for which Landman is now bestknown. Before 1880, in the New YorkCity area alone, at least four split-canebuilders are known: William Mitchell,Edward Vom Hofe, J. B. Crook, andFrederic Malleson. (One of these might

even have been Landman’s employer atthe time of the 1880 census, and Mal -leson was the previous Conroy rod-builder supplanted by Landman.)

“Many of Landman’s shafts appear tohave been built . . . by Thomas &Edwards.”10 As if the ambiguities sur-rounding Landman’s work were not suf-ficiently confusing, Campbell’s identifi-cation of Fred Thomas and Eustus Ed -wards as principal supplier of rod blanksto Landman (in exchange, he hypothe-sizes, for rod fittings) introduces a puzzleof equal perplexity. That this much-bruited partnership was indeed real, ifephemeral—and not merely apocryphal,as some skeptics have suggested—is con-

firmed by a report on their nascententerprise in the February 1900 issue ofMaine Sportsman.11 Al though no Thomas& Edwards–marked rod has ever beenreported, this article documents ir -refutably the existence of a shared work-place and post-Kosmic partnershipbetween the two Leonard-school alumni.By 1901, however, Thomas, ac cording toresearch by Mary Kelly published in thisjournal,12 was listed in the Bangor-Brewer business directory as an in -dividual rodbuilder, sans partner, where -as Edwards reemerged as a studio pho-tographer. Many partnerships, of course,fail to survive any longer; but the nag-ging problem with these facts for anglinghistorians is that the quantity of rodsnow attributed by dealers and collectorsto Thomas & Edwards appears to exceedthe most optimistic production estimatesfor a two-man shop, assuming even that ahelper or two was also employed.

Identifying so-called Thomas & Ed -wards rods, given the absence of anymarkings on them save those of a tackleretailer (and occasionally not even that),offers generous latitude for creativeinterpretation. Typically, it is no morethan the presence on them of Landman-produced hardware—his unique copper-or brass-tipped male ferrules and dis-tinctive soldered-rail reel seat—thatmakes the case. Campbell combined theassumption that Landman himself couldnot be responsible for his rod shafts withthe observation that many models of theThomas & Edwards–patented Kosmicline bear celluloid seats closely resem-bling those seen on certain Landmansand deduced the possibility of a working

Possibly Landman’s earliest maker’s mark, ca. 1885, on a heavy saltwater rod.

Landman’s signature: brass plugs in male ferrules.Characteristic also of his form cases are the brass tacks.

SPRING 2009 5

partnership between these parties thatsurvived the breakup of the Kosmic con-federacy. The argument is perspicaciousand not implausible, but a good wayshort of proven.

Among the several idiosyncracies thatCampbell attributes to Landman’s work,the most unmistakable, as noted above,are his rolled and soldered nickel-silverferrules (produced both in the modernconfiguration and the earlier spiked, ordoweled, design). These are most com-monly seen on top-of-the-line modelssold by T. J. Conroy, Abbie & Imbrie, VonLengerke & Antoine (VL&A to collec-tors), Von Lengerke & Detmold, FolsomArms, and, of course, the scarceLandman “Maker” rods. Equally distinc-tive are Landman’s handsome rolled andsoldered nickel-silver reel seats, whichexhibit a level of craftsmanship thatwould seem to belie Campbell’s prejudi-cial “sweatshop” characterization of theLandman operation (“small hands sol-dering ferrules for 12 hours a day”), factu-al evidence for which was not presented.13

Such metalworking skills as machine-tooloperation, gun making, and engravingwere not uncommon among the talentedGerman emigrants who settled aroundBrooklyn and greater New York, and fordecades afterward, many of the NewWorld’s most eminent gunsmiths andengravers originated from within thisold-world artisan community.

Not only do these seats exhibit fineworkmanship, but it would have beenessential that the fabrication of each beaccomplished relatively quickly in orderalso to be done cheaply enough to com-pete with the mass-produced stampedand drawn products of the undisputedking of rod hardware, Thomas Chubb,the “Fishing Rod Manufacturer”14 (iden-tified by Campbell as another likely sup-plier of rod blanks, especially lancewood,which Landman used on some commis-sions). Considering the precision handlabor required, especially on Landman’sferrules, it is difficult to understand howhe remained in the race with Chubb(and later Montague) as long as he did,

which was at least as long as he lived andprobably well into the lifetime of his sonand successor.

Landman’s own patented seat of 19August 1890, the one the inventor mightnaturally be expected to prefer and evenpush for commissions, is encounteredmuch less frequently than the slidingband seat. Yet compared with the latter,with its many soldered parts, the lockingseat actually appears to require less hand-work in its fabrication, thus justifyingLandman’s own characterization of it inhis patent description as “simple” and“inexpensive.” Whatever its cost, offeringa locking seat when such devices werestill something of a novelty might haveserved as a useful marketing tool, and itis thus surprising Landman made nogreater use of it. In terms of its utility, itfunctions at least as well as other quick-release mechanisms and better thansome, such as Leonard’s jam-pronedesign. Following expiration of Land -man’s patent in 1914, the management ofthe Fred Divine Co. displayed the sincer-

Rods, top to bottom: three-piece, 8 1⁄2-foot, 4 3⁄8-ounce Landman “Maker”; unidentified three-piece, 9-foot, 4 1⁄2-ounce rod with charac-teristics commonly ascribed to Thomas & Edwards; three-piece, 8-foot, 4-ounce T. S. Conroy; three-piece, 9-foot, 5 5⁄8-ounce Chubb

“Superb”; three-piece, 6 1⁄2-foot VL&A bait caster; three-piece, 6-foot VL&A bait caster; three-piece, 9 1⁄2-foot, 6 1⁄4-ounce Abbie &Imbrie “Empire City Special Grade”; and two-piece, 5-foot VL&A bait caster (dated 1914).


est form of flattery by offering unmistak-able copies of it on several models pro-duced during the 1920s.

While the patent remained in force,however, the locking seat was most com-monly found on rods retailed by VL&A.The possibility of occasional use of theseseats on rods other than VL&As and thescarce Landman-marked specimens can-not be excluded, but it can be said suchuse, if any, was rare. Therefore, the knownevidence begins to suggest that VL&Aenjoyed some sort of exclusive privilege tomarket the patented seat. A VL&A tacklecatalog of the 1890 to 1910 era might wellexplain such restricted distribution if ref-erence was made to any special arrange-ments, but VL&A catalogs are at least asscarce, alas, as marked Landman rods.

Few classic cane fanciers are unawarethat Jim Payne once marketed his workthrough Abercrombie & Fitch, but lesswell known is his comparable retail ar -rangement with VL&A. How early thisrelationship came to be established, andwhether in the lifetime of Ed Payne, isuncertain, but E. F. Payne–marked VL&Afly rods displaying the general stylingcharacteristic of the early 1920s have beenfound (though by no means frequently!),and at least one of these rods was fittedwith a copy of a Landman screw-lockseat, this example in nickel-silver. So evenif no “special arrangement” betweenLandman and VL&A ever existed onpaper, it seems indisputable that theman agement of the tackle departmentwas partial to his design.

A conflict of interest mayhave limited the potentialappli cation of Landman’s pat -ented seat. One of his best cus-tomers, the great New Yorktackle house of Abbie & Im -brie, had previously ac quiredrights to another locking ringdesign patented 10 January1888 by fellow Brooklyn in -ventor, tackle dealer, and an -gling ce leb rity Henry Pritchard.Given this vested in terest, Ab -bie & Imbrie not surprisinglychose to give pride of place toPritchard’s seat and separatelypat ented (1881) hard-rubbergrip, both of which were stan-dard, or optional “withoutextra charge,” on all but thelowest-priced models. ManyAbbie & Imbries (includingtop-of-the-line Best models:“guaranteed to be better thanthe best of anybody”!) arefound fitted with a combina-tion of Pritchard’s seats andLand man’s ferrules, but onlythe trademarked Empire City

line of rods in two grades—Special Gradeand Hand-Made—exhibited both fer-rules and metal seats of Landman’s dis-tinctive design. His patented seat, howev-er, has not been reported on any Abbie &Imbrie. Telling evidence that thesePritchard/Landman hy brids were beingassembled by Landman himself is pro-vided by those specimens featuring notonly Landman’s ferrules but his (almost)unique doubled intermediate wraps.15 Alegion of craftsmen must have beenemployed to supply the astonishing vari-

ety of rods offered at this time by Abbie& Imbrie, so the possibility that he pro-vided other models built around theChubb fittings seen on many Abbie &Imbries cannot be excluded, although itis most improbable, given the produc-tion capacity of the Chubb plant.16 Andthe source of the Pritchard-designed com -ponents remains unknown, like so muchelse in this problematical story.

A few of Landman’s patented seats fit-ted to salmon or saltwater rods were of allnickel-silver construction (and mag ni fi -

cent they are), but the great ma -jority featured that Land manspecialty previously noted, thetype of white celluloid oftencalled ivoroid.17 Less com monlyused, and easily mistaken forhard rubber, was celluloid dyedblack. Use of this, the first suc-cessful thermoplastic, made itpossible to mold at relativelylow cost (compared with thesoldered all-metal ver sion) thespiral trackway that Land -man’s screw-locking mech -anism re quired. The sim ilarityof this seldom-seen Landmanseat to the far more famousKosmic counterpart (sans lock-ing device, of course) is readilyapparent, as Camp bell en -joined us to ob serve, so thehypothesis that Landman wasresponsible for both is emi-nently plausible, particularlybecause no other builder ofthe time is known to havebeen working with celluloid.18

“Working with,” however,im plies only that Landmanpresumably possessed the skills

Unusual as its use on rods may have been, celluloid was, bythe time of this ca. 1890 trade card, ubiquitous in everyday

life: not only might the angler’s collars, cuffs, and shirtfronts be made of it, but also his combs, brushes, razor

handle, eyeglass frames, and, if an older gent, his dentures!

Comparison of wraps and reel seats on Landman-made VL&A (upper) andKosmic; doubled intermediates of VL&A are repeated at each ferrule and tip.

SPRING 2009 7

and equipment to melt, mold, dye, andotherwise alter the physical appearanceof celluloid, not synthesize it chemically.His most likely supplier would have beenthe nearby Celluloid Manufacturing Co.,of Newark, New Jersey, established in 1871and owner of both the earliest Amer icanpatent for synthesizing cellulose nitrateand the registered trademark Celluloid.19

In addition to offering the material inbulk to industrial customers, this firmmanufactured an impressive array of fin-ished consumer goods and through itscatalog boasted that it “manufacturesspecial articles too numerous to list.”20

Thus, the possibility cannot be dismissedthat Landman merely ordered his patent-ed seats built to his own specifications.

LANDMAN FIELD MARKS

Other than those scarce examples thatbear his own name, how can Landman-assembled rods be recognized? Becausehis easily identified ferrules and reel seatswere supplied to other builders, theirpresence on a rod can serve as no morethan a hint to search more closely forother evidence. Only one of his rod-building ideas seems never to have beensold to others, nor copied by imitators:the use of nickel-silver wire to reinforce,and perhaps prettify, his early sheet-corkgrips. (And his were among the earliest,most other builders of the time clingingto the use of rattan.) This eccentric detailseems to have been employed betweenthe mid-1880s (the assumed debut of hisearliest Conroy rods) and the turn of thetwentieth century, but only on his best-quality rods; Von Lengerke & Detmolddisplayed rods featuring “the usualround handles of cork, lapped with finedrawn silver wire” at the Sportsmen’sExposition of 1897.21 Shortly thereafter,

Landman adopted stacked cork rings,the earliest examples of which appear tohave been cut from sheet cork littlethicker than that used previously to wrapthe grip’s wooden core. Campbell specu-lates that Landman might actually havebeen first to construct a grip in this fash-ion, but if so, his ingenuity would be dif-ficult to confirm, as almost simultaneous-ly many others in the trade began to offerthe same. (In the long run, this was amixed blessing, for whatever its advan-tages, cork proved to be a good deal lessdurable than the standard it replaced, rat-tan. The latter, oddly enough, Landman isnot known to have used.)

Campbell set great store, as an aid toidentification, by Landman’s use of close-ly spaced—or “doubled”—intermediatewraps placed adjacent to the ferrules andjust below the tip-top guide, presumablyto reinforce the cane where the stress isgreatest. Although this practice wasdemon strably not “singular to Landman,”as William Mitchell, Fred Divine, andperhaps others on occasion wrapped inthe same fashion, Campbell is quite cor-rect that Landman is most identifiedwith this peculiarity.22 But the sameshould by no means be expected, be -cause Landman often saw fit—on rodsthat otherwise betray unmistakably hishandiwork—to omit them. When pre-sent, however, this striking pattern is animpossible-to-overlook indicator thatthe rod displaying them is likely to beLandman’s work.

The 1880 census “proves,” as well asanything in this arena of inference andconjecture can be proven, that Landmanwas involved in rod work of some kind bythat date, although in what capacity—whether as employee of one of the manyNew York City tackle firms or as indepen-dent builder—would be the subject of yet

more speculation. The earliest work thatcan be reasonably attributed to Landman(based on our woefully inadequateknowledge), his Conroy commissions ofthe mid-1880s, exhibits the styling charac-teristics of the early 1890s, and it isCampbell’s primary thesis that Landmanwas one of the principal designers usher-ing in the relatively modern look of the1890s. This view of Landman as innova-tor, “a gifted rod de signer, whose legacywas a rod so striking in appearance that itslikes have not been seen before or since,”seems somewhat at odds with Campbell’sunequivocal insistence that Landmandepended on others to provide him withunfinished rod blanks, but the facts aretoo few to resolve the contradiction, ifcontradiction there be.23

LANDMAN SUPERCEDED?Campbell concluded that by 1898,

Landman had been replaced as a builderfor VL&A because rods of that vintagehad lost their rolled and soldered fittings.However, the clearly Landman-builtVL&A bait caster (see photo on page 5),hand inscribed with an owner’s name anddated 1914, challenges Campbell’s putativeretirement date. Whenever it occurred,such a change in hardware means some-thing, to be sure, but whether it can beinterpreted only as evidence of Land -man’s replacement (by, Campbell postu-lated, the ephemeral team of Thomas &Edwards) is open to question. Could it bethat Land man turned to a less labor-in -tensive method of manufacturing ferrulesor simply outsourced them? The in ves -tigator’s dilemma in attempting to puz zleout Landman’s chronology is that virtu-ally the only available evidence, the rodsthem selves, are of course undated, usual-ly, and so must be aged by such details asthe thickness of the cork rings of the grip.But a general evolutionary trend, such asthe use of increasingly thicker rings, maynot be valid for every builder. So-calledmortised grips and reel seats, built up indiameter by the addition of taperedwooden inserts fitted between the canestrips, were abandoned by most buildersby the mid-1880s, but the Montague RodCo. continued to offer this “antique” fea-ture on low-cost rods manufactured intothe late 1920s; an anachronism thatwould be unbelievable, but for the verifi-cation provided by the company cata-log.24 In the same period, Montague wasoffering a premium-priced model, theSuperb, seemingly inspired by ca. 1890Landman styling, complete with a “Land -man” nickel-silver seat unmistakablycopied from the real McCoy. (A superbphoto of this model may be found onpage 17 of the American Fly Fisher, Fall

Patented ivoroid seat with 1⁄8-inch cork rings comparedwith nickel-silver seat with wire-wrapped sheet cork.


1980, vol. 7, no. 4, in Mary Kelly’s exami-nation of Thomas Chubb.)

The rods that shout Landman, thosewith his patented seat and/or doubledintermediate wraps, do indeed seem, asCampbell suggested, to be artifacts of LaBelle Epoch. But culturally speaking, thatbeautiful era, otherwise known as theGay Nineties, actually lingered throughthe first decade of the new century, untilextinguished by the cataclysmic socialand industrial changes arising out of theGreat War. Thus, some of these rods maybe of later vintage than their appearancesuggests, as are the “nineteenth-century”Kosmics that continued to be availableinto the mid-1920s!25 But an incidentalmention of Landman well after Campbelljudged him to be commercially extinctconfirms that Campbell had tolled thebell prematurely. George Parker Holden’sgreat classic of 1920, Idyl of the SplitBamboo, noted that “the reader interest-ed in exceptionally high class rod acces-sories will do well to consult John G.Landman, 59 Cedar St., Brooklyn, N.Y.”26

Would that the doctor, who might wellhave known Landman personally, hadspared a few more words of elaboration!

But more revealing than Holden’s ref-erence is the Brooklyn Eagle’s 1935 obitu-ary for son John, which identified him,as it had his father in 1917, as a “manu-facturer of fishing rods.”27The biograph-ical details and terminology in obituariesare seldom subject to high standards ofaccuracy, so perhaps John Jr. was onlymaking rod furniture, or engaged in rodrepair, rather than manufacture, or . . . thepossibilities are numerous. The salientfact is that like his father, he was probablyinvolved in some form of rod work for

most of his professional life. Otherwise,had he been forced by the failure of therod business to pursue some differentoccupation, it is reasonable to believe thatthe more recent second career would havebeen mentioned, at least, in this obituary.

Fly-fishing historiography, as othershave observed, and as any perusal of theliterature will confirm, tends to devolveupon the elite among anglers and theHiram Leonards among rodbuilders.Landman, it may be asserted without fearof rebuttal, was no Leonard. But he wasan important part of a large and complexmarket that catered to the proletarianneeds of rank-and-file fly fishers whowere unlikely ever to own a Leonard, letalone a Payne, unless it was acquired sec-ondhand with short tips. Those of uswho for decades have awaited with batedbreath Marty Keane’s beautiful catalogshave, unconsciously, indoctrinated our-selves with a badly distorted perceptionof the true American fly-fishing panora-ma. A bracing reality check is provided byperusal of the listings of vintage rods putup for sale on eBay: scores of Montagues,Heddons, and South Bends for everyLeonard, hundreds for every Payne. Andeven these numbers are misleading, be -cause high-status articles are likely to bepampered and preserved, whereas theirplebeian counterparts usually serve untilthey become unserviceable, and then—the tomato row.

Until the recent growth of an en -hanced appreciation for them (stimulat-ed in good measure by the respectfulconsideration Campbell accorded them),the term trade rod bore with it the stigmaof “inferior,” despite the common knowl-edge that many of the best builders—

including Thomas & Edwards, long afterboth had established their separateshops—produced prodigious numbersof them. Strictly speaking, Mills’s Stan -dards, although built on the same bench-es as “official” Leonards, must be consid-ered trade rods (although the special re -la tionship between Mills and Leonardad mittedly clouds the issue). And al -though it be sacrilege to suggest it, whatelse but trade rods are the treasured andrevered Kosmics? Oh yes, we know nowthe identities of their hallowed builders,but their original purchasers knew onlythat they were buying products of an ath-letic supply company (Spalding) or, later,a minor general tackle dealer (U.S. Net &Twine).

If retail price can be regarded as a veryrough estimate of quality, Landman’sEmpire City Special Grade sold in 1899for $15 versus $18 for a Mills Standard; acomparable Leonard was priced at $30,compared with $25 for a Best model Abbie& Imbrie. The cost of marked Landmanrods presumably exceeded that of aSpecial Grade, and they were bargains iftheir cost did not approach that of aLeonard. (Leonard is here taken as abenchmark, because at the turn of thetwentieth century, the dominance andprestige of the house that Hiram builtwas unchallenged.)

Somewhere within the collections ofone of the innumerable libraries, muse-ums, or historical societies of Brooklynand New York may repose the data thatwill permit firm flesh to be stuck uponthe bare bones of the Landman storyadumbrated above. What has beenaccomplished thus far is at best merely(with apologies to Churchill) “the end ofthe beginning.”

!

POSTSCRIPT

The manifest similarity of Landman’sserrated, or crown-cut, ferrules to Reed’spatent of 1885 has perplexed me sinceencountering large, carefully detailedrenderings of the latter in ThomasConroy advertisements of 1885 and 1886.(Actual specimens of Reed’s rare ferrulesI have not seen.) Is it no more than acoincidence that sometime after Conroyceased publicizing Reed’s work in 1887,he next offered rods of unspecified ori-gin fitted with ferrules that replicatedReed’s design, but made no claim topatent protection?

Conroy’s purchase of manufacturingrights from Reed would of courseexplain the similarity, but that Conroypaid for the privilege and then declinedto advertise such a valuable asset strains

In this museum file photo from the Fall 1980 issue of the American Fly Fisher(vol. 7, no. 4), the Montague Superb is the lower of the two rods pictured.

SPRING 2009 9

credulity. Surely the Conroy dynasty didnot acquire the status of New York’s old-est—and at one time largest—tackledealer by ignoring marketing considera-tions, and in the technology-obsessedVictorian era, much of the trade advan-tage of owning patent rights derivedfrom their puffery value.

So what might be an alternate expla-nation? That Conroy, reared in the trade,acted so recklessly as to commissionsomeone such as Landman to reproduceReed’s design without legal sanction?Unthinkable! unless Mary Kelly’s conjec-ture about Reed’s abrupt disappearancefrom the Chicago trade directories(“perhaps he died”) was more prescientthan she imagined.28 If Reed died sud-denly, intestate, and without lawfulheirs—circumstances unusual but by nomeans unknown—an extralegal oppor-tunity may have arisen that Conroy wasable to exploit without legal complica-tions. That such a hypothetical scenariois speculative is obvious, but not moreobvious than the similarity of the twoferrule designs.

Compounding this mystery is anunmistakable reference to Reed’s ferrulesby the most gifted fly designer of the1880s, John Harrington Keene, whoextolled the design as “the ideal ferrule . . .I will never purchase a rod without it.Unfortunately it is patented and only thebest makers are licensed to use it.”Although these comments appeared inKeene’s lengthy contribution to an 1892anthology edited by G. O. Shields, Amer -ican Game Fishes (page 522), it is entirelypossible, and perhaps even probable, thatthey were originally composed severalyears earlier for one of Keene’s numerousarticles in the American Angler or one ofthe other sporting periodicals. Keene didnot identify Reed by name, but becausehe reproduced the same ferrule illustra-tion used by Conroy, there can be nodoubt as to his meaning.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For first exposing him to the Land -mania virus, the author blames A. J.Campbell, and for exacerbating its viru-lence, he holds Landman aficionadosBruce Handley and Jeff Knapp culpable;without the assistance of both of the latter,this work would not have been possible.

!

ENDNOTES

1. A. J. Campbell, Classic & Antique Fly-Fishing Tackle (New York: Lyons Press, 1997), 112.

2. Ibid., 99.3. The New York Times (30March 1917), 11.

4. Campbell, Classic & Antique Fly-Fishing Tackle, 112.

5. Forest and Stream (20 March 1897, vol.xlviii), 231.

6. Forest and Stream (22 January 1898,vol. l), 65.

7. The New York Times (23March 1896), 6.This report, and several similar accounts inother issues, revealed that John Jr. and most ofthe Bushwicks were also avid bowlers who com -peted as a team against other clubs and civicgroups. Could this be why Campbell thought heand his father had little interest in fishing?


9. A fly in the ointment: According toKelly (see endnote 12), between January 1885and 1887, Conroy advertised “finest quality”rods featuring “Reed’s Patent SerratedFerrules,” referring to Chicago rodbuilderWilliam Reed’s 1885 patent for the same. Thisincongruous fact casts doubt on Campbell’schronology, as it seems unlikely that Conroyoffered both Reed’s work and that of Land -man concurrently. Because Kelly found notrace of Reed subsequent to his 1887 listing inthe Chicago business directory, that year—orthe year following—more likely marksLandman’s debut with the Conroy dynasty. InFishing Tackle: Its Material and Manufacture(London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1886), J. H.Keene includes an unmistakable illustrationof Reed’s ferrule, described as the best designthen available, superior even to that ofLeonard, but attributes the invention of it toBrooklyn rod and reel manufacturer Fred -erick Malleson! This error suggests that Mal -leson was manufacturing the ferrule for Reed.


11. Maine Sportsman (February 1900), 9.12. Mary Kelly, “Spalding and the Kosmic

Connection,” The American Fly Fisher (Summer1984, vol. 11, no. 3), 2.


14. An honorific Chubb awarded to him-self, not undeservedly.

15. Excellent photos of two of theseextremely rare Best models may be found onpages 60 and 90 of Jeff Hatton’s Rod Crafting(Portland, Ore.: Frank Amato, Publishers,2005). The hundreds of photographs (includ-ing those of many other Landmans) in thisunique volume make it indispensable for col-lectors, but Mr. Hatton accepts unreservedlyCampbell’s Thomas & Edwards provenancetheory for rod work that this writer attri -butes, tentatively, to Landman himself.

16. Catalog No. 161, Season of 1899, Abbie& Imbrie, New York, N.Y.

17. Ivorine was another trade name; nei-ther, apparently, were trademarked. Not mere-ly the color, but an artificial grain suggestedthe genuine substance; but as those striationsor contrasting layers were sometimes omittedfrom the manufacturing pro cess, creating abland, homogeneous appearance, the compar-ison to ivory is not always apt.

18. With the solitary exception of CharlesWheeler of Farmington, Maine, who tendedto choose from among a diverse selection of

rod fittings. Ivoroid seats have been reportedon one or two of his rods, which apparentlydate from the turn of the twentieth century.More complete descriptions of these seats arenot available, but whatever their origin,Wheeler used them but rarely.

19. Patent infringement litigation initiat-ed by a British competitor resulted in an 1880U.S. federal court decision that—to simplify acomplex ruling—voided Celluloid Man u -facturing Company’s American patent with-out sustaining the plaintiff ’s cause of action.In effect, the basic manufacturing processwas thrust into the public domain. About oneyear later, yet another British competitorestablished the American Zylonite Co. inAdams, Massachusetts, to manufacture theirtrademarked Zylonite formulation of cellu-lose nitrate. For reasons unknown, the newlyformed Kosmic partnership contracted withthe Adams firm—rather than their “next-door neighbor,” Celluloid Manu facturingCompany—to supply the celluloid used forEustis Edwards’s patented ferrule reinforce-ments. Not only does Zylonite appear inKosmic’s initial advertising in 1890 (whichalso offered Zylonite form cases!), but theterm is even used in Edwards’s 1889 patentapplication. After January 1891, however,Zylonite was replaced by Celluloid in Kosmicadvertising, because (perhaps to the chagrinof Edwards et al.) in that month AmericanZylonite was vanquished in a CelluloidManufacturing Company–initiated lawsuit,purchased, and then dissolved by the tri-umphant Celluloid Manufacturing Company.But Zylonite, as a trade name, clung to life foryears thereafter, perhaps because of its exoticconnotations, and appears in the 1899Abbie &Imbrie catalog referenced above to describe a(molded?) grip covering.

20. Catalog 117 (undated, but on internalevidence, ca. 1910), the Celluloid Company,30-36 Washington Place, N.Y., 2.

21. Forest and Stream (20 March 1897, vol.xlviii), 231. Von Lengerke & Detmold rods areso uncommon (unlike VL&As) that withoutthis reference it might be difficult to establish arelationship between Landman and the NewYork City firm. The two Von Lengerkes werebrothers, but so far as is known, the companieswere managed as independent entities. Bothsold firearms, but Von Lengerke & Det moldmade a specialty of it, becoming the exclusiveimporter of several fine European guns. VL&Alater merged with Abercrombie & Fitch.


23. Ibid., 112.24. Undated 38-page catalog of the Mon -

tague Rod & Reel Co., Montague City, Mass -achusetts; internal evidence suggests publica-tion between 1927 and 1930.

25. Kelly, “Spalding and the Kosmic Con -nection,” 2.

26. George Parker Holden, Idyl of the SplitBamboo (Cincinnati: Stewart and Kidd Com -pany, 1920), 114.

27. The Brooklyn Eagle (3 November 1935).28. Kelly, “Spalding and the Kosmic Con -

nection,” 3.


IT IS UNLIKELY that one would bedrawn to the rolling hills of westernPennsylvania if fly fishing for trout

were the sole purpose of the trip. The per -ception is more of dank, soot-shroudedafternoons, the steel mills of AndrewCarnegie, Rolling Rock beer, America’searly oil discoveries, or the Steelers’ stun-ning last-minute “immaculate recep-tion” on that cold December day of 1972.Pittsburgh, swaddled between the Alle -gheny and Monongahela rivers, is knownmore for its Slavic work ethic and theunion-busting tactics of steel and railroadbarons than for the gentle art of inducinga trout to swallow a small piece of bentsteel, carefully concealed by fur and feath-er. And so it was with some mixed feelingsthat I, brought up on the clear waters ofVermont’s Batten Kill River, took the jobin 1971 to work for Fred Rogers in the SteelCity, far from what I thought was thesophistication of my eastern friends whowere alleged to be closer to the cradle ofAmerican fly fishing.

Within weeks of settling in, I foundsomeone who knew what a Gray Fox

Variant was, which led to encouragingtips as to where to go for an afternoon’sfishing. He also introduced me to a localenthusiast, George Aiken, who appearedto know everyone in Allegheny Countywho could throw a fly more than 10 feet.We arranged to have a small group ofguys gather at my house in Shadyside, anad hoc meeting of what was known asthe Pittsburgh Fly Fishers, an informallocal group made up of extremelyknowledgeable men and women. I hadmy fly-tying vise at the ready and wasconvinced that we could share some pat-terns, and I would, if asked, tie a para-chute dry fly that would probably beenough entertainment for the boys untildinner was served.

One of the men who came to thehouse that evening was a person I hadnever heard of who had the unlikelyname of Chauncy Lively. He was a bald-ing, 5-foot, 10-inch man of averageweight, with face-wide glasses and abroad grin pierced only by a cigarette thatwas almost always lit. His western Penn -sylvania accent seemed to cover almostevery sentence. After much of the usualtalk, and a viewing of my 7-foot rodmade by my friend, Everett Garrison,

Chauncy mentioned that the annualsportsman’s show was in two weeks andkindly invited me to sit beside him in theTrout Unlimited (TU) booth and tieflies—a first for me in a public setting. Ihad about seven patterns under my beltby then, one of which was fresh fromDudley Soper’s vise, a minimalist’s takeon the crane fly called the Gangle Leg.

Armed with youthful exuberance—and little else—I set off for the arena thatcold Saturday morning. I had decided toreveal to the sporting world my own ver-sion of the Breadcrust Nymph. Chauncywas busy getting set up, and I was thrilledto see so many people crowding aroundour booth, undoubtedly marveling at mydexterity. The crowd was growing, but Iwas too busy trying to get the throathackles to sit correctly to no tice thatChauncy was spinning a parachute hack-le under the wings of an extended-bodyMarch Brown dun. When I did finallywhip finish the head on my fly, it didn’ttake me long to see what the commotionwas about. I too joined the fan club, qui-etly slipping my modest kit under thecounter, and then witnessed why thequiet man to my left is often called “thefly tier’s fly tier.”

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2007issue of the Anglers’ Club Bulletin (vol. 82, no. 2).

Chauncy Lively: An Innovative Fly Tierand a Consummate Fly Fisherman

by Hoagy B. Carmichael

Chauncy Lively at his tying vise.

All photographs are from the ChauncyLively Archive, courtesy of Anne Livelyand Claudia Lively DeVito. All flieswere tied by Chauncy Lively.

SPRING 2009 1 1

A MUSICIAN FIRST

Born in 1919, Chauncy King Livelycame from the small town of Charleroi,Pennsylvania. His father, Chauncy ClintonLively, was the head of the psychologydepartment at Waynesburg Col lege insouthwestern Pennsylva nia. Chauncy Kingdutifully majored in psychology and sci-ence, with an eye that he might follow hisfather’s career and be come a scienceteacher. While in school, he met MarionAiken, whom he married in 1943.

Music ran deep in Chauncy’s familybackground. He began playingthe trombone as a young man,and later took music theory andcomposition classes at Waynes -burg Col lege, where he joinedtheir school band his freshmanyear. When World War II came,Chauncy enlisted in the Army’sSpecial Services, where, stationedin Texas, he led one of the Armybands, waving his hand to someof America’s great melodies whenhe wasn’t playing the trombone.After the service, Chauncy be -came one of the musical ar rang -ers for the KDKA radio station inPittsburgh. It was a full 50K-wattstation that reached far across thecountry in the evening. In thosedays, larger stations had livebands, even full orchestras, thatplayed music throughout the day.Lively played the trombone for anationally known band calledLarry Funk & His Band of a Thou -sand Melo dies. He also headedhis own group of musiciansknown as Kay Lively, His Trom -bone and Orchestra. Chauncy wasa dedicated, well-schooled musician, butthe burgeoning world of television andchanging musical tastes eventually puthim on the sidelines, so he joined hisfather-in-law’s mortgage business, Fred L.Aiken Associates, where he worked unen-thusiastically until retirement. He knewmany of my father’s songs, and some ofthe stories that went with them, so wewould often talk “musician-speak,” a dif-ferent kind of conversation from themany fish tales and wonderful long fly-tying sessions that we had over the years.

After fifty-four months of Army ser-vice, Chauncy was looking for a hobbyfollowing his discharge. Marion boughthim several of the few books on fly fish-ing that one could find in those days,which led to numerous trips to the localtackle store, buying poorly constructedbamboo rods with lines and reels thatdid not match. Chauncy’s first rod, an 8-foot, 6-inch, three-piece split-cane pro-duction company rod, was said to pos-

sess modern dry-fly action. The thin,poorly tapered rod tips that could nothold a no. 5 DTF in the air for very longsoon looked like spaghetti. Flies, otherthan several standard all-purpose pat-terns that were endorsed by Ray Berg man(Trout, 1938), were hard to find in post-war Pittsburgh, as were rubber-basedwaders that could withstand more thantwo trips to a river. Chauncy and Marionoften went to a pic turesque little streamless than an hour from downtownPittsburgh, Dunbar Creek, or to SandyCreek in Venango County, plying their

scant knowledge against trout that wereseldom bothered by fly fishers, yet weretoo smart for the young couple. “Nobodywanted to help us,” Chancy once told me.“When other fly fishermen saw you com-ing, they were slow to answer questions,or simply moved away from you. Wewere on our own.”

MR. LIVELY MEETS

MR. YOUNG

It was not long after their first misstepsthat Chauncy decided to invest in a betterrod for Marion, one that was well madeand suited to small-stream fishing. In1947, he answered one of Paul Young’s adsin Field & Stream magazine, suggestingthat a new line of rods was in the works,and within days received a copy of PaulYoung’s fifteen-page booklet, “The Storyof Your Rod.” Chauncy was im pressed bythe thoroughness of Young’s approach to

the craft, which led to an order—the firstof many—for Marion in August 1948 of a7-foot, 6-inch, two-piece “Dry Fly,” fol-lowed by an 8-foot, 6-inch, two-piece“Parabolic” for himself.

Early in their long and fruitful relation-ship, Lively sent a nymph that he tied to“Mr. Young” and received a letter monthslater ad dressed to “Mr. Lively,” thankinghim for the fly with which he had caughtseveral nice trout. The frequency of theirletters quickly increased, which culminat-ed in the two families finally meeting in1954 when Paul Young came to Pittsburgh

for a visit. He took Chauncy’sdaughter, Anne, out on the lawnwith a 6-foot, 9-inch, 23⁄4-ouncerod that Young called “ThePumpkin Seed Special” (prob ablya prototype) and, after severalsuccessful casts by young Anne,he gave her the rod, a well-cared-for treasure that she still uses.

Chauncy was not inclined toentrust the most vital link of troutfishing—the design and con-struction of the fly—to a smallcadre of men whose spare writ-ings, for the most part, centeredon the patterns used on easternfreestone streams. He was a borntinkerer, someone who was notafraid to incorporate a new ideathat he considered an im prove -ment. By 1950, Lively was begin-ning to reconsider some of the flypatterns that he was able to pur-chase, many of which were poorimitations of winged insects thathe was taking from the westernPennsylvania rivers for study inhis small “fishing room” up stairs.Beetles, grasshoppers, crickets,

and ants were among the creatures that heknew trout fed on, and, save for VinceMarinaro and Charlie Fox—along withthe innovative soft-hackled, subsurfacework of Allentown’s “Big Jim” Leisenring’s1941 classic, The Art of Tying the WetFly—few had given flies, other than thetraditional may flies and some caddis pat-terns, much thought. “The three of us[George Aiken, Marion, and Chauncy]made good use of the Black Deer HairBeetle as described in John Crowe’s Bookof Trout Lore,” George Aiken remem-bered. “We found it to be an excellentrepre sentation of the Japa nese beetlewhich was infecting the Cumber landVal ley and which provided us with manydays of excellent an gling for big fish onthe LeTort Spring Run. This fly has alsobeen excellent on all waters we havefished, and it led to Chauncy’s develop-ment of the Carpenter Ant Fly. Althoughdifficult to see on the water, this fly canbring surprising results when fished

Chauncy Lively with his trombone, ca. 1946.


under overhanging brush.”1 Chauncy’sdeveloping knowledge, bolstered by acreative imagination and the freedom ofexpression known to musicians, began tofoster an array of new patterns that werethe basis of a long inventory of ingenioustying ideas, now commonly used by manynontraditional tiers, usually those who cantake their time and don’t need to producequantities of commercial flies.

SHARED VACATIONS

By the mid-1950s, the Lively family be -gan to share vacations in Michigan withPaul and Martha Young, first to an areaon the North Branch of the Au SableRiver known as Lovell’s, then finally set-tling on a two-bedroom cabin overlook-ing an un dis tinguished section of theSouth Branch, almost next door to theone used by the Young family. Chauncy,Marion, and their children, Anne andClaudia, made the trip almost every year,fishing the smaller flies known to thatriver system in July and August. By themid-1960s, Chaun cy had begun to settleon several tying ideas that would bettersolve the problems of the highly selectivebrown trout, first introduced to the AuSable around 1910, who fed in those gin-clear waters. Sitting in a slow-gliding,flat-bottomed, Au Sable riverboat andhurling a large Skunk pattern to largeunsuspecting trout that may be lurkingunder the umbrella of cedar sweeperswas not Chauncy’s idea of fly fishing. Hewanted to fool rising brown trout thatwere sipping small flies under the sun ofthe late morning, and he soon realized

that it would take a sophisticated under-standing of “what the trout saw” in flysilhouette and light refraction, much thesame as the published work of Edward R.Hewitt and the other Pennsylvania flytheorist, Vince Marinaro. “Reading Mar -i naro [A Modern Dry Fly Code, 1950]many years ago motivated me to build asmall, glass slant-tank, through which Icould get a trout’s underwater view offloating insects and/or fly patterns repre-senting them,” Lively re counted.2 This“ap plied sci ence” piece of the puzzlecame easily to Chaun cy, which helpedtake much of the guesswork out of hisburgeoning theories, in time producing aseries of lasting patterns.

Marion’s brother, George Aiken, a veryskilled angler in his own right, was almostas interested in solving the mysteries ofthe floating fly as was Chauncy. Georgestarted fishing for trout with a fly at thesame time as his sister and Chauncy.George, once again paying hom age to thetax lawyer from Harris burg, Penn syl -vania, later wrote:

We had read Vince Marinaro’s book AModern Dry Fly Code, where Vinceintroduced the thorax style of tying tobetter imitate the way the mayfly rideson the water, and the resulting light pat-tern as that seen by the fish. The thoraxstyle was difficult to tie and often didnot ride properly on the water. Since

For a number of years I have been using a hackling style I call“reverse palmering.” In reverse palmering, the hackles are tied in bytheir stems behind the eye, at right angles to the shank, on edge andwith the hackle dull, or convex, sides facing the eye. The body mate-rial is then reverse-wound back to the bend and tied off, and thethread is anchored at the rear of the body. Now the hackles arewound individually from front to rear in equally spaced turns, thesecond hackle following the path of the first, and each is tied off atthe rear of the body.

Reverse palmering also arranges the hackle fibers in a way thatprovides exceptional balance on the water. With the hackles tied inwith their convex sides toward the eye, the first turn angles the fibersforward—ever so slightly—and subsequent turns toward the reartilt the fibers in that direction. The result is an arrangement of hack-le fibers matching the posture of an insect’s legs on the water. Thisconfiguration provides maximum support to the rear half of the fly,where it is needed most because of the weight of the hook’s bend.—Chauncy Lively, from the Pennsylvania Angler, August 1993, page 20

Note: The reverse-palmer hackle is tied off with a whip finish at therear of the hook. This technique also eliminates the need for tailsupport: the tail is usually just a few whisks of fiber if any.

—Bob Berls, editor, the Anglers’ Club Bulletin

Martha and Paul Young in their Detroit rod shop, 1959.

The Carolina Reverse-Palmered Fly.

SPRING 2009 13

this pattern was an interesting concept,it led Chauncy to build a slant tank sohe could observe and photograph float-ing artificial flies and live insects fromunderneath. His work supported Vince’sobservations and led him to try toimprove the original thorax style. Thissoon led to the reverse palmered stylehackle, V-clipped along the bottom. Wefound that this was an excellent style oftying: it is relatively easy, floats well, andalmost always lands upright on thewater. Another development in Chauncy’ssearch for the perfect mayfly pattern isone with cut or burnt wings with asparse parachute hackle under the bodyof the mayfly.3

Chauncy described his reverse-palmerhackle idea in a 1993 Pennsylvania Anglerarticle (see sidebar left).

I was fortunate to make three trips outto the Au Sable with Chauncy andMarion, always during August when thePseudocloeon and Tricorythodes (knownas “Trico”) hatches were on. We cooked,talked, and told stories, often sharing ameal with Martha Marie Young, whocould still fling a fly with the best ofthem, but mostly we fished the publicwater with well-tapered 16-foot leaders,topped off with up to 5 feet of 7X tippetpoint. Chauncy, with that upright, clas-sic, yet dangerously precise castingstroke, and Marion, hunched over in a

shroud of smoke, “jugging” (momentar-ily hooking) fish with regularity, weregreat anglers and a source of knowledgethat I gratefully carry with me. When notfishing the dun and spinner falls, we tiedflies on the 6-foot table in the mainroom, waiting for the evening’s rise. Itwas a true test of Chauncy’s patience thatfirst year because I was far behind thecurve and light-years away from his tal-

ents. I was able to finish my first WonderWing Fly in his presence and set the spunhackles on a small dun with the para-chute tied under the body, done with atool of his design later to be marketedunder the name “The Spiralator.” We tiedTrico spinners in size 24 with SaranWrap wings and harder-than-you-think“fore-and-aft” patterns that must havesmelled like candy to the trout. I well

Martha Marie Young and the author, Au Sable River, 1974.

Above: Three Wonder Wing Flies,ready to escape.

Left: The Fore and Aft Gnat.


remember Chauncy carefully scissoringa V in the hackles under the body ofmany of his duns, then heating the dub-bing needle and lightly singeing the tipswith an outward stroke. The idea pro-duced “landing feet,” which helped keepthe hackles from piercing the surfacefilm, more like the appearance of thenatural fly as seen from under water. Hispracticed dexterity allowed the oftencomplex design ideas to pour from hisvise, but they were always intermixedwith a plausible, well-thought-out expla-nation of why the trout might betteraccept the presentation were I to consid-er the fly design. It all flowed in front ofme, day after week, much of it at a time inmy life when rodmaking was my primaryinterest and trout fishing my only sport.

One morning we had exhausted theshort Trico spinner fall on the MainBranch and decided to have lunch at CalGates’s Au Sable Lodge, not far fromStephan’s Bridge, then headquarters formany who annually fished the Au Sablewaters. Cal, a big man with a fistful ofstories, was always behind the counter,selling flies and waders or taking lunchorders for those on the terrace that over-looked the river. After ordering oursandwiches, we noticed a man and hiswife sitting near our table, he lookinglike the accountant that he was, dressedin well-pressed DAKS, white shoes andbelt, with what was un mistakably a PaulYoung rod in a tube that was un ques -

tionably on its first fishing trip. Heambled down to the riverbank to have apractice cast or two, and we carefullywatched our novice pull out a bright redreel from a new box that had been con-cealed by his Orvis tackle bag. As he wasstringing up the rod, we could see from200 feet that it was a brand-new Martinautomatic reel, loaded with a dark brownline that wanted a leader. He awkwardlytried to get some line out, slapping itagainst the lawn behind him as helaunched what he could into the air.Chauncy and I had the same reaction—we swiftly walked down to the haplesstyro. We introduced ourselves, and,before he was able to collect his thoughts,or break a tip on his Young rod by“retrieving” the line with the spring-loaded Martin, we took the rod from himin as cordial a manner as possible. It wasa brand-new 7-foot, 6-inch “Perfectionist”(in my opin ion, Young’s greatest taper),given to him by employees ten years be -fore as a gift. He had never taken the pro -mised fishing vacation, so the spanking-new “outfit” had been laid aside, rod andreel waiting, it seemed to us, to be sepa-rated from each other forever. We tactful-ly explained why the reel was a metallic,unsuitable menace, leading our newfriend up to Cal’s shop and assisting himin the purchase of a new Hardy LRH reel,some backing, and a WFF no. 6 line. Theice had melted in our sodas by the timethe rescue mission was completed, but we

ate what remained with the satisfactionthat we had probably saved a fine exam-ple of Chauncy’s late friend’s work.Chauncy told the story for years.

SHARING IDEAS

Chauncy Lively was not at all interest-ed in celebrity. He fished his unusualpatterns for years in obscurity until hewas persuaded in 1968 to begin writinghis fly-tying column for the PennsylvaniaAngler, then a monthly, which he diduntil the May/June 2000 issue, just monthsbefore his death. Many anglers across thecountry subscribed to the mag azine (nowcalled Pennsylvania An gler and BoaterMagazine) expressly to see what Chauncywould come up with next. His writingwas lean, yet warmly descriptive, alwayswith the emphasis on a concise explana-tion of a fly-tying solution that was easyenough to understand so the reader mighttake the time to try it. In all, he wrote 160articles for the Penn sylvania Angler, all ofwhich should, in my opin ion, be collectedand re pub lished. Some of the ar ticle titlesbegged further reading: “The Cat erpillaras a Dry Fly” (Feb ruary 1995), “A FoamCricket” (June 1992), or “The Tri-PointHair wing Dun” (Septem ber 1989). Othershad the sound of an upcoming movie:“Quill-Back Cricket” (February 1969) or“A Worm That Turns” (February 1979).Every article came from Chauncy’s vise—hard-sought-for knowledge and advice

Above: Quill-Back Cricket.

Right: Damselfly Nymph.

SPRING 2009 15

offered by a man who unselfishly enjoyedsharing many years of personal experience.

Lively also contributed articles to FlyTyer (1983), United Fly Tiers Roundtable(1976), and TU’s magazine, Trout (1970),as well as a number of general articles forRiverwatch (1976), a quarterly newsletterof north Michigan’s conservation orga-nization, the Anglers of theAu Sable. He did all the pho-tography for the articles, tak-ing hours on weekends in hisupstairs study to get theimages right. Some of theideas that he felt made tyingeasier, and that he later wroteabout, gained currency, be -coming “in no vations” in thegrowing field of fly dressing.The vest-sized, lam inated“Chauncy Lively’s May flyPro portion Chart,” a handyguide to the wing, body, andhook length for more than150 mayflies nationwide, soldin tackle stores for decades.Over the years, Chauncy re -ceived hundreds of lettersfrom readers asking for ex -amples of his flies. It is themark of this ultimate gentleman that healways wrote back, suggesting that if thereader would send one of his flies, hewould return the favor—which he did.Fly collectors covet Chauncy Lively’s flies,and I feel fortunate to own a wonderfulshadow box with many of his patternsthat he sent to me, out of the blue, as agift. To my knowledge, he never sold a flyto anyone.

Marion and Chauncy Lively alwayswent on fishing trips together. In time,

she developed into one of the best, andcertainly one of the most enthusiastic,female anglers I have ever seen. Chauncytied the flies, and, when Marion was notmothering her daughters or taking theirMaine coon cats to a cat show, she wason the river with Chauncy, fishing withhis flies. Marion, too, began to write for

the Pennsylvania Angler under the byline“The Feminine Angle,” and for Angler’sof the Au Sable’s Riverwatch, later chang-ing her pseudonym to “Effie Merella.”She wrote about fly fishing with anemphasis on the distaff point of view.“Being a woman fisherman has somefringe benefits,” she said. “I’m often thelone woman on fishing trips and duringthe year I usually attend several meetingswhere the ratio of men to women isapproximately twenty-five to one. Well, by

the time the eve ning is over, I usually feellike a cross between the belle of the balland a den mother.”4

For years I had talked to Chauncyabout coming to my home turf, Ver mont’sBatten Kill River. In those days, manypools still held plump brook trout andlarge, wary browns that came to the sur-face after sundown. The evening hatcheswere often as good as one could find onan eastern freestone stream, with long,cool stretches of water that seemed unruf-fled by time. When the day finally came,we picked up my friend Sam Melnor(who ran the Fly Fisherman’s Bookcase, abook-and-tackle retail operation based inCroton, New York), and the three of usheaded north. As is often the case whenone wants to show off a river, the fishingwas poor, but Sam, who had a much bet-ter eye for business than I did, recog-nized the unusual elegance of Chauncy’spatterns and saw the potential and wis-dom of a book based on his work. BySunday afternoon, when we left Mrs.McCarthy’s Pink House, hard by thebank of the river in Arlington, Vermont,Sam had overcome Chaun cy’s born re -luctance for the public eye with an assur-ance that he would consider the publica-tion of some of his Penn sylvania Anglerarticles. I promised to call Jerry Hoffnagleof Stackpole Books, who had done a

wonderful job distributingmy rodbuilding book basedon the methods of EverettGarrison. It was almost thateasy, and by the spring of1980, less than two years later,Stackpole came out with asmall edition, in paperbackno less, called Chauncy Live ly’sFlybox: A Portfolio of ModernTrout Flies. It contains morethan thirty-five unusual flypatterns that he created, withphotos, along with his suc-cinct tying in struc tions. Iron -ically, the photo of a fly boxon the cover of the book is notone of Chauncy’s nymphboxes. I had seen them all, andI suspect that someone atStackpole composed the photoart for the cover without

thinking very hard about the subject mat-ter. Regardless, I strongly recommend thatevery angler interested in fly dressingmake the effort to find a copy of this little-known, out-of-print book.

A FISHING VEST AND FLIES

I was excited at the opportunity tohost Chauncy for an evening program atthe Anglers’ Club that was scheduled forMarch 1984. The weather was terrible in

Chauncy’s reverse-palmered Ginger Quill, with cut-wings.

Chauncy and Marion with theirPaul Young rods on Silver Creek, Idaho, 1954.


Pittsburgh, grounding his plane, but fi -nally, on the twenty-fifth of November,he came to the club with his one prop,his fishing vest, and a host of fabulousslides of natural flies and his ingeniousimitations. In fact, his vest was filled withtreasures: an insect net, a pen and note-book, a marrow spoon with which toreach into a trout’s stomach to see whatit had been eating, a film canister thatheld fly dressing of his own make, andthe main event, the green plastic oval-shaped boxes that had once held a prod-uct known as Soap-on-a-Rope. They wereabout 2 inches deep, into which Chauncyfitted a foamlike material that was soonfestooned with flies, lined up in a park-ing lot of color by size and genus. WhenI first saw him open one of these boxes, Iwas sure that the contents, perched onthat cream-colored runway of foam,would, seeing daylight, quickly springinto the air and escape into the trees. Iseriously questioned how anyone wouldallow them to get wet and then, in ev -itably, swallowed by fish. Although itseemed like a desecration, I can attestthat trout liked the looks of every patternI saw him fish, and fish them he did.

RETIREMENT

As the years slid by, our paths seemedto slowly bend away from each other.Chauncy and Marion moved to theirhouse on the North Branch of the AuSable, where they became active in localconservation activities. Marion’s hoarsevoice was the precursor to her illness,and in 1995 she gave way to complica-tions of emphysema, exacerbated byfifty-five years of heavy smoking. I, onthe other hand, began to pay more atten-tion again to the entertainment andmusic side of my life, and although wespoke several times, I regret not makingthe effort to go to their house on theNorth Branch for that promised summerfishing trip we had talked about. I triedto get Chauncy interested in joining meon the Grand Cascapedia River for whatwould have been his first week of salmonfishing, but I could tell that he wasn’tvery interested. Much of his love for thesport was rooted in the problems pre-sented by the feeding habits of trout inthe rivers of the midwest. Like SparseGrey Hackle, casting at a fish that doesn’teat and that takes flies that are not neces-sarily trying to resemble food was notanything Chauncy could relate to. Hehad spent much of his life understandingthe feeding habits of trout, and the enig-matic, often senseless theories of whysalmon take a fly were anathemas to him.I guess at the time I hadn’t thought thatthrough.

I doubt that I ever knew a better man.He was a giver, a person who enjoyed thecompany of people who were thoughtfuland intelligent. He was always willing toshare ideas and methods with anyonewho would listen. Together, Chauncy andMarion, like John and Maxine Athertonbefore them, gladly worked more thanforty years for the enrichment of theirfavorite sport. One could not count thenumber of conservation meetings andbanquets that Chauncy and Marionattended, and I suspect that there arehundreds of Lively-tied flies, given towinners at TU and other conservationdinners all over the country, hanging onwalls across America. The rewards fortheir innovation, more than thirty yearsof articles, and their efforts on behalf ofhabitat preservation work was not mon-etary, yet both have earned the currencyand respect of anyone who took the timeto read, and think about, their many cre-ative ideas.

Chauncy lived on alone in the cabinon the North Branch of the Au Sable afterMarion died, writing, fishing when hecould, and sharing summer vacations

and holidays with his daughters andgrandchildren. He succumbed to pneu-monia in February 2000. Chauncy willbe, maybe already has been, knighted asone of our country’s great innovative flytiers. If not, let the line start behind meand the thousands of others whoseenjoyment of the sport of fly fishing hasbeen enhanced by the thoughtful, trom-bone-playing, highly intelligent, “smoke-’em-if-you-got-’em” regular guy fromPittsburgh. I can now effortlessly put thethroat hackles on a Breadcrust Nymph,for which I have Chauncy to thank.

!

ENDNOTES

1. George Aiken, “Fishing with Chauncy,”The Riverwatch (October 2000, no. 35), 11.

2. Chauncy Lively, “Fly Tying at the Endof the Millennium,” The Riverwatch (April1999, no. 31), 4.

3. Aiken, “Fishing with Chauncy,” 11.4. Effie Merella, “Some Advice,” The

Riverwatch (November 1993, no. 16), 13.

Chauncy Lively, on Penn’s Creek, 1972, with his camera,chest fly box, and a vest loaded down with fly boxes.

SPRING 2009 17

KAY BRODNEY’S NAME is somewhat obscure in the publicconsciousness. Women such as Carrie Stevens and JoanWulff stay fresh in the minds of most fly fishers, but

Brodney, whose contributions to the sport are just as signifi-cant, has remained in the shadows. This is likely because shewas a private person and did not relish attention. Brodney wasa fly fisher first and a celebrity only when it was unavoidable.Fortunately, Brodney saw fit to donate a substantial number ofher fishing-related belongings to the museum.

Born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1920, Kay Brodneybecame involved in fly fishing in 1948 when she witnessed acasting tournament in San Francisco. Apparently, this was aturning point in her life. A few years later, she was a dedicatedfishing bum, traveling all over the Pacific Northwest fishing andworking a variety of jobs to support her habit. Eventually, aftercompleting a degree in zoology, she earned a masters degree inlibrary science from Rutgers. She then took a job with theLibrary of Congress, which provided her with ample incomefor fishing trips.1 Brodney passed away in 1994.

Brodney was no stranger to the museum. She was a trusteein the 1970s and put her professional library skills to use com-piling an index of fishing tackle patents in the museum’s pos-session. She also compiled the first index of the American FlyFisher (1978, vol. 5, no. 4). In 1982, Brodney made the generousdecision to donate a substantial amount of tackle to the muse-um. Among the donated items are two early fiberglass fly rodsmade by Reelon Rod Co. Both rods were made in 1952 or 1953by Johnny Dieckman during his tenure at Reelon. The compa-ny, based in Costa Mesa, California, remains fairly obscure;there were many fiberglass rod companies in California at thistime, many of them evolving into or being taken over by othercompanies. Dieckman also remains virtually unknown,although Brodney mentions him by name in her museum cor-respondence at the time of donation.2

One rod, a 71⁄2-foot, 4-ounce two piece, was made with analuminum reel seat and butt cap, nickel silver ferrules, andconspicuous rainbow wraps. The color pattern of these wrapsis not consistent and may be the result of repairs. The blank isdark brown, which may have been an attempt to mimic dark-ly toasted bamboo. The grip has a small indentation on the topfront to accommodate the thumb. Brodney thought very high-ly of this rod, noting on the donation record, “One helluva [sic]stick for accuracy and distance. I hate to give it up!”

The 9-foot, 4-ounce two piece has a similar brown blank,but has a black plastic reel seat, aluminum ferrules, and redand green wraps that are as noticeable as those on the shorterrod. The ferrules are painted green to match the wraps. It alsohas the same indentation on the grip for the caster’s thumb.The rod’s action is very soft, which is typical of fiberglass, espe-cially early rods. Brodney used this rod to win a number ofcasting competitions. Interestingly, she does not express muchsentiment or enthusiasm for this tournament rod. Her note onthe documentation simply reads, “It took Natl [sic] Women’sDry Fly Championship 1956, etc.” This is consistent withBrodney’s philosophy of fishing first and posing for the cam-era later. Although she competed many times, it never seemedto satisfy her as much as casting a line knowing that there wasat least a chance of something biting.

—NATHAN GEORGE

ENDNOTES

1. Clive Gammon, “Please, Don’t Fall in the Water,” SportsIllustrated (18 May 1981, vol. 54, no. 21), 78–82, 84, 89–92.

2. Donation documentation, Kay Brodney’s notes to theAmerican Museum of Fly Fishing, October 1982.

G A L L E R Y

Casting for Action, Not Attention:Kay Brodney’s Fiberglass Rods

Above: Brodney’s 9-foot Reelon rod bears Johnny Dieckman’ssignature. Note the indentation on the grip.

Below: Brodney won several competitons with the 9-foot Reelonrod, including the Women’s Dry Fly Championship in 1956.

Above: Kay Brodney’s 7 1⁄2-foot Reelon rod. She pref-ered this rod for accuracy

and distant casting.

Left: The 7 1⁄2-foot Reelonrod has unique rainbowwraps.

Photos by Nathan George


AS WITH MOST great craftsmen, PerBrandin’s rise to prominence asone of the world’s premier rod-

builders began with a spirit of necessityinspiring innovation. In countering theprevailing wisdom of the 1970s, Brandinbelieved that split-cane rod designs andbuilding techniques could be refined toproduce a rod that would match the per-formance characteristics of the syntheticrods that were revolutionizing the sportof fly fishing. It was a challenging under-taking that eventually resulted in hishaving an order backlog approaching adecade and a closed waiting list.

Per began fly fishing with a fiberglassrod while growing up in the Catskill tra-dition. In the late 1960s, he built an OrvisMadison bamboo kit rod and becamemotivated to study everything he couldabout split-cane rods. In the ensuingyears, he cast various rods made by Baileyof England, Edwards, Howells, Leonard,Orvis, Powell, Thomas & Thomas, Win -ston, and others, and recorded microme-ter measurements of the numerous tapershe encountered. Living in New York andworking as a professional photographer,Per’s growing interest in rods broughthim into contact with Peter Phelps of theBedford Sportsman and Hoagy Car mi -chael, who helped keep the traditions of

split-cane rodbuilding alive as the syn -thetic revolution continued. Phelps en -couraged Per to build rods, and Carmichaelprovided assistance during the early stages.

Using Everett Garrison and HoagyCar michael’s A Master’s Guide to Buildinga Bamboo Fly Rod (1977) as his reference,Per produced his first rod in 1984. Duringthe effort, he had overcome various chal-lenges concerning procurement of thenec essary planing forms and ferrules forfour-sided or quadrate rod designs. In1989, he relocated his burgeoning opera-tion to the San Francisco Bay area andused western rivers and the ponds of theOakland and Golden Gate Casting Clubsas the proving grounds for his ongoingdevelopments.

Brandin’s signature rod is four sidedand hollow built. It traces its heritage tothe historic Edwards quadrate taper ofeastern tradition and the western hollow-building techniques practiced by E. C.Powell. Per explained to me that he wasable to achieve the greatest performanceadvantages from the quadrate design andthrough a proprietary “scalloping” tech-nique he developed, by which he couldremove a higher percentage of inner corematerial throughout the entire length ofthe rod. To someone holding a Brandinrod, the outward ap pearance is that of a

solid four-sided rod, but beneath thesurface is a complex series of honeycombspaces and supporting cross-sections or“dams” that greatly reduce the weight ofhis rods without compromising strength.

The resulting power and smoothnessin such a lightweight rod make it a joy tocast. The quality of the hardware, wraps,and varnish work on each rod personi-fies the pride that this great craftsmanputs into his work. I was warned yearsago by my friend Jack Coyle that I shouldget on Per’s waiting list before it becametoo late. At that time, a Brandin rod wasselling for around $2,500. They currentlyrange in price from $3,500 to $3,950 fortrout rods and from $3,950 to $4,950 forsalmon and steelhead rods, but the onlyplace you might be able to purchase oneis on the secondhand market, where youseldom see them offered for sale.

Per Brandin is a true keeper of theflame, and the heritage of our sport ispreserved and enriched by those like him.

!

John Mundt is a trustee of the Amer icanMuseum of Fly Fishing.

Per Brandin: Split-Cane Rodbuilderby John Mundt

K E E P E R S O F T H E F L A M E

Above: Cross-section of a hollow-built Brandin rod.

Left: Per Brandin in his shop.

For more information about Brandin rods, visitwww.brandin-splitcane.com.

Photographs by the author

SPRING 2009 19

THE MUSEUM HAS RECENTLY received—by way of Stephen O’Brien Jr. Fine Artsof Boston—a beautiful book by Diane

K. Inman, The Fine Art of Angling: Ten Modern Masters(Incline Village, Nev.: Di Les Books, 2007, introductionby Stephen O’Brien Jr., 205 pages, $75). Each of the tenartists are represented by ten images. The selectionwell represents the artists’ skills, and the accompanyingtexts reveal interesting aspects of their development,which helps the reader to understand their styles.

Briefly, here is a little about each artist.Shirley Jean Cleary’s work comes from her early

interest in miniatures. Her brilliant, sharp, gouachepieces are small, but they do not neglect thedetailed landscapes of many fly-fishing regions.

Inman describes Rod Crossman’s art this way:“One might call it soul, or spirituality, or an ethe-real sentience that emanates from his work like an

aura” (p. 22). The images are quiet scenes of a reflec-tive moment by an angler. His use of oils producesstrong contrasting colors.

The masterful expressions of light and textureby Thomas Aquinas Daly com plement his

impressionistic approach tonature in angling scenes. I would offer theopinion that no other artist can captureDaly’s portrayal of the relationship be -tween sky and water. We only see lightlike this on rare occasions on the water;having a Daly image in our home meansthat we can see it every day.

Luke Frazier’s paintings stand outbecause they suggest stories of an anglingmoment—for example, The TillamockCreel, Drying Out, and Granddad’s ThreePiece. His passion for antique creels isevident in almost every scene. Most inter-estingly, his colors, especially oils, give anunusual, hazy vision of air, water, and sky.

The selections of Eldridge Hardie, asmall sample of his prodigious work,nicely reveal his skills in portraying thenatural environment surrounding someof fly fishing’s heritage. Inman commentsthat his oils “are resplendent and revealthe payoff of . . . enormous preparation”(p. 93).

If one loves the art of Winslow Homer,one can appreciate the images of ChetReneson, with their simplicity and strongcolors. Reneson eschews realism, beauti-fully using muted colors and vaguelydefined objects as abstract art.

The dramatic, narrative art of Arthur Shilstone reflects hisearly career as an illustrator. He creates striking images of avariety of waters: quiet flows, raging torrents, massive water-falls, and serene meadows.

In strong contrast to most modern angling artists, BrettSmith’s paintings are aptly called “nostalgic,” evoking, perhaps,the 1930s and 1940s. His careful research has captured theclothing and equipment of a time long gone, especially in hisdepiction of camping scenes.

In contrast to the angling action paintings of most contem-porary artists is Mike Stidham’s art of “fishscapes.” His under-water environment of sand, grass, etc., is reflected on theunderside of the surface water. This approach makes the view-er feel that he or she is swimming next to the fish. Stidham alsopaints images of flies as well as large angling landscapes.

It is fitting that the last artist represented in the book is JohnSwan. Acknowledged as one of the premier “sporting” (thoughhe doesn’t like the term) artists, his work is difficult todescribe. On the one hand, he paints in the style of Pleissner orHomer, but his palette is ecstatic with brilliant oils of wonder-ful environments, such as the Rangeley Lakes and the wilder-ness of the salmon waters of New Brunswick and Québec. Hispassion for canoes is almost always in evidence.

In summary, The Fine Art of Angling: Ten Modern Masters isa marvelous collection of angling art by some of the very bestcontemporary artists. Their work represents an artistic bench-mark for the future. Of course, we can expect that they willcontinue to create more art themselves, and it will be interest-ing to see how that art may evolve.

—GERALD KARASKA

N O T E S F R O M T H E L I B R A R Y


Fit to Be TiedOff season for anglers is winter. It’s when many come

indoors to wait for the ice to melt and hone their tying skillswhile dreaming of the thawing spring. What better time tospend a cold and snowy day in January than at the AmericanMuseum of Fly Fishing at our Fit to Be Tied event? WithWilliam Cushner’s framed flies as inspiration around us, thir-ty-five participants of all ages came to the gallery for the after-noon to learn to tie, with four tiers on hand to teach anddemonstrate their craft. The museum would like to thankGeorge Butts and Eric Nelson of the Green Mountain FlyTyers, Geoff Schaake of the Angler’s Net (www.theanglersnet.com), and our own Yoshi Akiyama for donating their time andsharing their talents with us.

Recent DonationsAllan K. Poole of West Haven, Connecticut, donated a fly

box that contains Ernest Hemingway’s own flies tied by his wife.Gardner Grant of Purchase, New York, gave us a wooden dis-play box that contains 129 salmon flies. Nathaniel P. Reed of

Hobe Sound, Florida, donated a two-piece, 7-foot, 6-inch, 5-weight Phillipson bamboo fly rod.

Gary Miller of Williamsburg, Michigan, gave us printingblocks that were used in Paul Young’s catalog and copies of cat-alog pages. He also donated articles on Bart Winnie and hisfamily, along with Michigan Hopper and Michigan Caddis fliestied by Art Winnie. Michael P. Dryer of New Bedford,Massachusetts, donated the Sierra Tackle Co. Fly Tying Toolsand Materials catalog, ca. 1930.

G. William Fowler of Odessa, Texas, sent us a photograph ofWalt Dette taken and signed by Ed Pfizenmair in 1987. AndDavid Richey of Buckley, Michigan, donated two books, Troutof Michigan by Harold Hinsdill Smedley (Sportsman’sOutdoor Enter prises, 1982) and The Fly Hatches by DavidRichey (Hawthorn Books, 1980).

Museum on FacebookEvents Coordinator Kim Murphy has brought the museum

further into the twenty-first century by starting a page onFacebook. If you are a Facebook user, search for the AmericanMuseum of Fly Fishing and become a fan!

Above: Stone fly nymphs were beautifullydemonstrated by Eric Nelson.

Upper right: George Butts of the Green Mountain FlyTyers shows a young tier the proper technique.

Lower right: Professional tier Geoff Schaake teachesthe steps to make a wet fly.

Photos by Kim Murphy

SPRING 2009 21

C O N T R I B U T O R S

Clarence Anderson but rarely strays from the West Branchof New York’s Ausable River, his retirement refuge after a lifegrilling under the Texas sun in a family oil-field service com-pany. From youth more entranced by old ways and old thingsthan by the ephemeral new, the course his anachronisticpropensities would follow after falling under the spell of thelong rod was inevitable, leading to membership with theAmerican Museum of Fly Fishing in 1981. A boyhood fascina-tion with antique firearms has resulted in papers for Man atArms, Gun Digest, Gun Report, and others. Anderson last con-tributed to this journal in Fall 2007 with his article, “HiramLeonard: A Review of the Published Biographical Evidence.”

BACK I S SU E S !Volume 6:Volume 7:Volume 8:Volume 9:

Volume 10:Volume 11:Volume 13:Volume 15:Volume 16:Volume 17:Volume 18:Volume 19:Volume 20:Volume 21:Volume 22:Volume 23:Volume 24:Volume 25:Volume 26:Volume 27:Volume 28:Volume 29:Volume 30:Volume 31:Volume 32:Volume 33:Volume 34:Volume 35:

Numbers 2, 3, 4Number 3Number 3Numbers 1, 2, 3Number 2Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Number 3Number 2Numbers 1, 2, 3Numbers 1, 2, 3Numbers 1, 2, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3Numbers 1, 2Numbers 1, 2, 3Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Number 1

Back issues are $10 a copy.To order, please contact Sarah Moore at

(802)362-3300 or via e-mail at [email protected].

After a career in television and films, Hoagy B. Carmichaelturned his attention to bamboo rodmaking. He wrote AMaster’s Guide to Building a Bamboo Fly Rod (1977) withEverett Garrison and produced a film chronicling Garrison’swork. He is a leading expert in the field of antique fishing tack-le and has fished for trout and salmon for forty years. In lateryears, he has concentrated on trying to catch a few fish on theGrand Cascapedia River while helping to develop their finemuseum, the Cascapedia River Museum. Working to under-stand that river’s great history has been a life-giving force.Carmichael last contributed to this journal with his two-partarticle, “Red Camp,” about that camp on the Grand Cascapedia(Winter and Spring 2006), which was excerpted from his bookThe Grand Cascapedia River: A History, Volume I. Volume II isdue out in 2010.

Upcoming EventsBecause of the lead time inherent in producing a

quarterly publication, please be aware that thisinformation is subject to change. For additions,updates, and more information, contact KimMurphy at (802) 362-3300, or check our website atwww.amff.com.

May 8–9Spring Board MeetingAmerican Museum of Fly FishingManchester, Vermont

August 15Fly-Fishing FestivalManchester, VermontNow accepting vendor applications. Contact Kim

Murphy for more information.


Platinum Contributors Alan Airth

E. M. BakwinMichael Bakwin

Foster BamPamela Bates

Robert J. and Deborah B. BruckerDuke Buchan IIIC. Austin Buck

Donald C. ChristLarry and Judy Cohen

Howard P. ColhounHunter W. Corbin

Peter CorbinDay Family Foundation

Jerome C. Day David DiPiero

Dominic DiPiero Blake Drexler

John W. and Mary Jane DreyerFredrik S. Eaton

Matthew S. ForelliChristopher Garcia

Ronald GardMichael Geitz

George R. Gibson IIIJon W. Gibson

Gardner L. GrantThomas and Nancy Gravina

Griffin and Howe Chris Gruseke

James HardmanJames D. Heckman, MD

James R. HoughtonThe Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.

Arthur Kaemmer, MDJohn H. and Jina Kaiser

Fred and Anne Marie Kambeitz Charles Kirkland Kellogg and Megan Kellogg

Peter R. and Cynthia K. KelloggWoods King III

Carl R. Kuehner IIISteven G. Lampe

William P. Leary III Douglas F. MacKenzie

Nancy MackinnonJacqueline MarsWalter T. Matia

Mike McCallJohn McMahon

William C. McMaster, MDJames MelcherBradford MillsJohn Mundt Jr.

Stephen E. MyersDavid Nichols

E. Wayne NordbergRobert E. O’Hara III

Erik R. Oken The Orvis Company

The Orvis-Perkins FoundationRaymond C. Pecor

Stephen M. PeetThe Perkins Charitable Foundation

Leigh H. Perkins Sr.Frederick S. Polhemus

John RanoRoger Riccardi

R. K. Mellon Family FoundationKristoph J. Rollenhagen

Philip SawyerFranklin D. Schurz Jr.

Robert G. ScottGary J. Sherman, DPM

Socratic Fund Management LPStephen Bechtel Fund

Thomas and Patricia StewartRonald StuckeyJeffrey R. SztorcRichard G. Tisch

Urban Angler Ltd.David H. Walsh

Frederick G. WeemanPatrick J. WelshGreg Wheeler

James C. Woods

Gold Contributors The Charles and Caroline Lee Fund

Finn and StoneShawn P. Harrington

Helen Shaw Kessler Living TrustRobert Krist

Macy’s FoundationPamela S. Murray

Joseph R. and Amy PerellaLeigh Perkins Jr.

Romi PerkinsE. Lee and Cokie Perry

The American Museum of Fly Fishing gratefully acknowledges theoutstanding support from our 2008 contributors and donors.

We apologize if any name has been misspelled, placed under theincorrect contribution level, or inadvertently excluded from this list.

Museum Donors

SPRING 2009 23

George J. RecordsJames S. Reid Jr.

r.k. MilesJeff Szczerkinski

The Vermont Country StoreFrederick and Constance West

Gregory and Carolyn W. Wheeler

Silver Contributors Berkshire Bank Fitz H. Coker

Thomas DoolittleJon Eggleston

Geoffrey A. GoldDr. Thomas and Ellen Hallock Hakes

Fred and Anne Marie KambeitzAlfred F. King III

Nick and Mari LyonsLawrence and Karen Marsiello

Lee W. Mather Jr.A. Wright PalmerRandall R. PerkinsJames M. Pollock

Allan and Alice PooleHarry and Nola Ptasyncki

M. William RaynorSandra L. Read and Paul Parker

Robert S. RichEllen Sahadi in honor of Robert and Karen Scott

Matthew and Kerry ScottMark and Cheryl ShermanDr. James and Jolyn Specter

Frank Weinburg IIIDickson L. Whitney

Bronze Contributors Alan and Diane AmendtJames and Maria Baker

James and Jacqueline BeckerChris Belnap and Cambridge-Pacific

William and Jean BerryAngus C. Black Jr.

John B. BlakePaul Bofinger

Philip M. Brett IIIRobert Bryan

N. Harrison BuckDonald Buckley

William and Rebecca BurkeRobin CarpenterDavid Charamut

Tadd ChessenRobert A. CloughEdward A. CollinsJames C. CollinsJudith B. ComarParker S. Corbin

A. Daniel and Yoriko CroninThomas T. Daniels

Robert and Kelli DotsonG. Curtis Duffield

Michael DurrerThe Equinox Resort

G. Dick FinlayW. Michael Fitzgerald

Paul and Mary FordFriedlander Family Fund

Keith and Lois FulsherPeter J. Gambitsky

Gates Au Sable LodgeMarc Genereux

Constantine and Venetia GeorasMary J. George

Charles R. Greenhouse in honor of Gardner GrantHenry Hall

Arthur and Margaret HendrickHerbert O. Henze

William and Phyllis HerrickRusty Heymann

Robert J. HoernerPaul C. JenningsKaren W. Kaplan

Stanley and Susan Katz in memory of Richard TrismenJohn J. Kelleher Jr.

Sam E. Kinney, MDGeorge and Susan Klein

William R. KnoblochClaire Lang

Maxwell Lester IIIThomas Lloyd

Robert E. LongneckerWilliam H. and Mary Louise Lord

Dr. James MacMahonGeorge W. McCabe

William B. McCollumDuncan and Sandra McDonald

Hugo J. and Lois G. MelvoinWilliam J. Menear

John B. MerrittEdward C. Migdalski

Tim MitchellRobert F. Molzahn

William H. Moore IIILester S. Morse Jr.

Robert and Joanne MoserDennis C. Muchmore

Rose NapolitanoNew England Fly Tyers

Ward and Lois NialMark and Melissa Olson

Winston A. OstrowPalmer House

Stephen M. PiosoNicholas PosakDavid Randall

Jeffrey W. RaynesL. Keith Reed

Philip R. ReverCharles Albert Rexroad

John and Melanie RichardJoseph Robillard

Edward H. RuestowWalter and Carlina Sawyer

John A. ScullyEugene A. Sekulow

Joseph F. Sherer Jr. and Suzanne ShererAdelaide J. Skoglund

Jeffrey H. and Claudia SmithRichard and Ann Stanton

Glenn Struble Manufacturing CompanyJudith TaylorLon P. Teter


Charles G. ThacherTrout Unlimited – Nutmeg Chapter

W. T. Jones Welding and Line Boring ServiceWilliam B. and Elizabeth Webster

Ronald and Cheryl WilcoxRichard G. and Marilyn D. Williamson

Charles B. Wood IIIWilliam F. Zapf

Roger Zinser and Elizabeth Burns

Brick Program SponsorsFoster Bam

James N. BendeliusLesley Budny

Bill and Lisa ChandlerCatherine E. Comar

John W. DreyerPaul Fischer

Kate FoxEmily W. JayKris LaRue

Hilary MurphyRobbi Rogers

Jack Varley

Exhibition LendersDr. and Mrs. David Babbott

Peter BerghJohn C. Dreyer

John W. and Mary Jane DreyerJohn William and Gloria Dreyer

William B. DreyerBuzz Eichel

Marshall FieldBill and Judy Hoyt

Peter R. KelloggWilliam C. McMaster, MD

Stephen E. MyersDavid Nichols

Leigh H. PerkinsRomi Perkins

Private CollectorsSandra L. Read and Paul Parker

Shelburne MuseumSouthern Vermont Arts Center

Mr. and Mrs. H. Dorn Stewart IIIDr. and Mrs. Francis M. Weld

Joan Wulff

In-Kind Donors of Goods or ServicesRobert Anderson

The Anglers’ Club of New YorkApplejack Real Estate

Peter BerghAngus C. Black Jr.

Elaine BrookesJay Burgin of Five Rivers Lodge and Estancia del Zorro

Bill ChandlerRobert CochraneClark Comollo Peter Corbin

Susan Read CroninPatricia Davis

Field & Stream magazine

Frank Amato PublicationsKeith Fulsher

Gallo Family VineyardsJohn Gierach

George R. Gibson IIIGardner L. GrantJames Hardman

Hildene, The Lincoln Family HomeAndrew Holl

International Mailing SolutionNick Karas

Peter R. KelloggChristine B. Lewis

Carmine Lisella and Jordan-Mills Rod Co.Manchester Discount Beverage

Charles McCaughtryMidcurrent

Mulligan’s Pub & RestaurantJohn Mundt Jr.David Nichols

The Orvis CompanyTony Perry

Judy Pissaro and the Estate of Joseph Pisarror.k. Miles

Kristoph RollenhagenSam Sammis and Three Stallion Inn

Gary Sherman, DPMMark Sherman

Stephen O’Brien Jr., Fine ArtsTed Sypher

Charles ThacherRichard G. Tisch

Paul VolckerBob and Lisa White of Whitefish Studio

James C. WoodsJoan Wulff

Yellow Book

Donors to the CollectionEdgar AuchinclossJames Capossela

John DecaroMichael P. DryerJohn Feldenzer

G. William FowlerCharles Fredette

John Graves Dr. Charles Greenhouse

Lorrain GrossenbachDavid W. Karke

Estate of Helen Shaw KesslerLeon MartuchGary L. Miller

Peabody Museum of Natural HistoryRhey and Sheila Reid Plumley

Allan PooleNathaniel P. Reed

Dan RicheyDavid Richey

Frank SkidmoreBob Torres

Elizabeth TrumpJohn Vandervoort

Joan Wulff

OFTEN, AN IMPORTANT part of the success of any muse-um is the unsung heroes who help staff do their jobs.These are the volunteers who willingly undertake tasks

and projects and who don’t expect, or even want, recognition.At the American Museum of Fly Fishing, you don’t need to bea fly fisher; you just need to be interested in history and bewilling to work on a variety of projects that will help to makesure that history is preserved. Because this issue of our journalcontains the list of financial contributors for 2008, it seemsonly fitting to recognize our volunteers from this past year.

Heather Berger spent the summer adding object informa-tion to the collections database and assisted with the prepara-tion of board packets before the fall meeting. Heather was anintern from the College of Saint Rose and volunteered at themuseum as part of her master’s program. Nathan George,although no longer a staff member, continued to volunteer histime working on the collections database, monitoring the envi-ronmental conditions in our buildings, and writing “Gallery”pieces for the journal. Edgar Auchincloss has been puttingtogether acid-free boxes for the safe storage of the reel collec-tion and is looking forward to many more box assignments!

Gerry Karaska has spent many years cataloging our 7,000-volume research library and identifying duplicate books. Gerryalso writes book reviews for the journal. In 2008, Gerry neededto take some time away from library duties, but we appreciatethat he continues to submit pieces to the journal.

Our events require many hands, and we are fortunate tohave volunteers come forward to do whatever is needed.Pamela Murray efficiently worked the room and sold raffletickets at our annual Anglers’ Club of New York dinner in NewYork City, Bill Cosgrove and Ron Wilcox flipped hamburgersand hot dogs at our Fly-Fishing Festival, and George Butts andBill Newcomb spent their day at the festival demonstratingtheir tying skills. Tim Delisle and Steve Murphy are familymembers of staff who often help at events to set up tables, movechairs, and secure our tents against the wind. Meghan Goodwin

and Cathy Hall happily greeted visitors and added to thecheerfulness at various events, and Sandra Read worked in themuseum building on Mondays during the winter months.

Peter Woods comes to the office once a week to work withthe collections and magazine databases, move exhibit cases,pack artwork, and cut and place exhibit labels. Peter will beleaving for college in the fall of this year, and he will be missedas he pursues his career path.

The Board of Trustees is also a group of volunteers. Eachboard member assists the museum with his or her expertise infinancial matters, exhibition planning, collections strategies,fund-raising events, and much, much more. We are fortunatethat two board members work directly with the collection—thanks to Jim Hardman and Jim Heckman, the flies and reelsare properly stored and managed. It is due to the passion andcommitment of our board that the museum is a strong orga-nization.

There is one very special volunteer who works in the galleryand shop, works in the administrative offices, greets people atour events, and calls hotels and motels to make sure they havemuseum information to hand out to their guests. This is RoseNapolitano. If you are lucky enough to visit when Rose is onduty, she will meet you at the door with a genuine smile andwill make sure that your tour is well informed and pleasurable.Rose worked very hard in 2008 to create a comprehensive mail-ing list of hotels and motels to receive our membership bro -chures and exhibition flyers. Rose even contacted four-starhotels who agreed to carry our information. She is a trueambassador. We can’t imagine our week without Rose andappreciate all that she does for us.

If you would like to join our group of volunteers, pleasecontact the museum. We can always find a job in which yourtalents can be put to good use.

CATHI COMAREXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Thank You, Volunteers

Volunteer Rose Napolitano took a stab at fly tyingduring the AMFF Fly-Fishing Festival in 2008.

Kim Murphy

The American Museumof Fly Fishing

Box 42, Manchester,Vermont 05254Tel: (802) 362-3300 • Fax: (802) 362-3308

E-MAIL: [email protected]: www.amff.com

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF FLY FISHING, anationally accredited, nonprofit, educationalinstitution dedicated to preserving the richheritage of fly fishing, was founded inManchester, Vermont, in 1968. The museumserves as a repository for, and conservator to,the world’s largest collection of angling andangling-related objects. The museum’s col-lections and exhibits provide the public withthorough documentation of the evolution offly fishing as a sport, art form, craft, andindustry in the United States and abroadfrom the sixteenth century to the present.Rods, reels, and flies, as well as tackle, art,books, manuscripts, and photo graphs, formthe major components of the museum’s col-lections.

The museum has gained recognition as aunique educational institution. It supports apublications program through which itsnational quarterly journal, the American FlyFisher, and books, art prints, and catalogs areregularly offered to the public. The muse-um’s traveling exhibits program has made itpossible for educational exhibits to beviewed across the United States and abroad.The museum also provides in-house ex -hibits, related interpretive pro gramming, and

research services for members, visiting schol-ars, authors, and students.

JOIN!The museum is an active, member-orientednonprofit institution. Membership dues in -clude four issues of the American Fly Fisher.Please send your payment to the membershipdirector and include your mailing address.The museum is a member of the AmericanAsso ciation of Museums, the AmericanAssociation of State and Local History, theNew England Asso ciation of Museums, theVermont Muse um and Gal lery Alliance, andthe International Asso ci ation of SportsMuseums and Halls of Fame.

For further membership information, pleasecontact Sarah Moore at [email protected].

SUPPORT!As an independent, nonprofit institution, theAmerican Museum of Fly Fishing relies on thegenerosity of public-spirited individuals forsubstantial support. We ask that you give ourmuseum serious consideration when planningfor gifts and bequests.

The American Fly Fisher - American Museum of Fly Fishing · The American Fly Fisher(ISSN 0884-3562)...

Documents

Transcript of The American Fly Fisher - American Museum of Fly Fishing · The American Fly Fisher(ISSN 0884-3562)...