” To go fishing is the chance to wash one’s soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of the sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week, and it is discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish…” Fishing by Herbert Hoover, an excerpt from The Treasure Chest, edited by Charles L. Wallis, and published in 1965 by Harper and Row, publishers
I featured that quote to begin my blog because I feature quite a few writings on fishing in tonight’s radio program between 9 and 11 pm. I know a neighbor who is quite an accomplished fisherman. He enjoys getting up early in the morning and setting out for his favorite streams. My wife has a trophy in her parents’ home in Montreal. It’s a huge sailfish that she caught while on vacation in Acapulco, It weighed 110 pounds and put up quite a fight. She was only 16 years of age at the time. She told me the story of how this beast was reeled in and what it took to ship it back to this country. It’s not an easy thing to accomplish and a costly venture, as well. For some reason, that fish never made it during our move here in 1990. It still hangs in the family room of her parents’ home, and we see it when we visit. We’ve been tempted to bring it back on a few occasions, but it is still too large to transport in our SUV.
Years ago, I worked at a small radio station just outside of Toronto. The owner of the station hosted a travel show. It was my job to piece together the interviews he recorded on his trips to far away locales and put together an hour-long show. He went on safari in Africa, as well as many other far-flung journeys. I would research the destinations and write a script for the host to record. I even got the chance to be invited to take his place on a trip to San Diego. It was an eclectic bunch of travelers I joined on that trip, most of them travel writers. I returned with lots of taped interviews. I had a few interesting adventures of my own on that trip.
I met Joan Embury, who was a regular featured guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She was affiliated with the world-renowned San Diego Zoo. Her visits to the top-rated talk-show always included some of the animals from the zoo. I had told her about my fear of snakes and she agreed to help me get over that fear by escorting me through their reptile house. I was hesitant, but she assured me that the creatures were all behind glass and if I was ever to get through this, then this was the way to go. We walked through the huge doors and one of the first snakes I saw was huge anaconda. This creature was immense - and that was enough for me. I thought we might begin by seeing something smaller and not quite so dangerous. That was it for me. I high-tailed it down the long corridor to the nearest exit, leaving my guide behind in my wake. All my fellow travelers had a good laugh at my expense.
One of the writers had been a professional wrestler. He was retired and always wanted to travel, so he became a journalist. During a round of margaritas at a great Mexican restaurant, we asked him about pro-wrestling. You must remember, this was years before the spectacle that wrestling has become today. Some of the people at the table were skeptical about the outcome of some of the matches. I’ll never forget one thing he told me. After a grueling bout, he would be in a lot of pain. He said he looked forward to a hot bath with epsom salts to ease the punishment he put his body through. He convinced us that even though it might be somewhat staged for the audience, the wrestlers were still athletes. I always think about what he told me when I see an event today.
I hope you enjoy our travels around the world tonight with some unique perspectives an being a tourist. And if you really think about our tenure on this planet, in a sense, we’re all tourists in this life…
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Don Jackson
thank you for a wonderful program it helps to make it through the day and it helps to remember the one person I will always love. the music keeps my love alive for him alive.
- Catherine Dimick