I never met the man either. But from those interviews of him that I’ve read or heard, I’m confident that he’d have a  few sardonic quips about some of the superlatives I’m about to assign to him.

I’ve never reviewed a John Gierach book because they’re the best.

His books are the best in the premiere subgenre of fly fishing books. The quantity of paperbacks comprised of personal anecdotes and reflections is innumerable. They are the natural overflow of the contemplative angler’s experience. And while many do it, most don’t  do it well. For run of the mill authors, chapters have the tendency to be  tired variations on themes. For those who break through, a second book is still a rarity. But Gierach had over twenty follow-up books on fly fishing anecdotes and reflections. That is a telling statistic.

Any used book store bears witness to his position among angling memoirs. Each random assortment of volumes features some of the popular and some of the obscure. But Standing in a River Waving a Stick and Even Brook Trout Get the Blues will inevitably be there. In fact if a secondhand bookseller’s shelf doesn’t have a Gierach book or two, it is safe to assume there is another fly fishing section somewhere.

A more poignant  testimony to the man is his ubiquity. Fly fishers who don’t read have read John Gierach books. His bibliography has the same footprint among anglers as the Gideons do in hotels.

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