2010 Passings

Fly fishing felt the loss of many fine and interesting people in 2010.
Charlie Meyers, long-time outdoors editor for The Denver Post and an institution in Rocky Mountain fishing, hunting and skiing journalism, died in early January.
Knox Burger, John Gierach’s first agent and editor of some of John McDonald’s classic Travis McGee novels, also died in January.
Dick Finlay, a long-time Orvis employee who also worked for Fly Fisherman magazine and helped start the American Museum of Fly Fishing, also died in January.
Frank Bertaina died in March. Frank was a pitcher for the 1966 World Series Champions Orioles and went on to partner with Bob Nauheim in travel company Fishing International.
Skiff pioneer Bob Hewes died in June. Hewes’s lifelong commitment to building “fishy skiff” changed the world of saltwater fly fishing.
Ed Koch, author of Fishing the Midge and of Basic Fly Tying with Norm Shires, died in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in July.
Fly fishing photographer Richard Schaaff, who took up his art only in middle age but whose images were admired by many, died in November.
Tom Helgeson, publisher and editor of the popular “Midwest Fly Fishing” magazine and founder of the Minneapolis/Chicago Great Waters Expos, died in November. Tom was an ardent conservationist, a caring teacher, and a gifted writer.
Russia fishing pioneer Bill Davies, who was largely responsible for opening Russian salmon fishing to western anglers, died in early December.
Casting expert Cliff Netherton died in December at the age of 100 after a life-long association with competition casting.
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Here’s a quote from the poem “The Name of a Fish” by Faith Shearin:
“If winter is a house then summer is a window
in the bedroom of that house. Sorrow is a river
behind the house and happiness is the name
of a fish who swims downstream.”
(Read the full poem on The Writer’s Almanac.)