"When It Gets to Be Work, I’m Going to Retire"

That’s what 85-year-old Stanley Cooper, Jr. says of his craft after more than 50 years of wrapping, spinning and trimming flies.
Though he’s tied commercially for large companies like Abercrombie and Fitch and Orvis, “These days, he’ll tie seven dozen flies in comparison to the 10 to 12 dozen he tied on a daily basis. To make a living, ‘you’ve got to tie at least 10 to 12 dozen per day. Years ago, we tied a fly that was called Jassid, a very, very easy fly to tie. I tied 20 dozen of those a day.’” Joan Matsui in the Abington Journal.