Jim White's Fly-Fishing the Artic Circle to Tasmania

 

Jim White’s recently published book, Fly-Fishing the Artic Circle to Tasmania / A Preacher’s Adventures and Reflections is part travelogue, adventure, and reflection on a life. Enriched with vintage photos and personal journal entries made during his fly fishing journeys that covered over 100,000 miles and nearly fifty years, Jim’s storytelling is what you might expect from a preacher and an angler: humorous, detailed throughout, and more than just fishing stories. Jim will be at Angler’s Covey on Sunday (he’s a former minister, right?), August 11, from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. to present a slide show and talk about his book.

 

Reading Jim’s Fly Fishing the Artic Circle to Tasmania is pretty close to having a conversation with a great storyteller over dinner or, better yet, in a fishing cabin near Missoula. His tone and style is just that – conversational, casual, and inviting.  He devotes a chapter to the different destinations he’s fished: Alaska, New Zealand, Mexico, Manitoba, Venezuela – and more.  It’s like planning your next fly fishing trip by getting out a world atlas and plotting your itinerary.

 

~ Fishing, then, becomes a branch of soul-searching meditation ~ Jim White.

 

One element that makes this book so rich, though, is the incredible detail that Jim provides for each leg of this life-long journey.  Because of his journal-keeping and his photography, each destination in the book captures groceries they bought, meals they ate, supplies, and, of course, detailed accounts of fish they pursued and caught. This eye for detail and Jim’s voice in conveying them makes this an enjoyable addition to  my fly fishing-themed library.

 

Toward the end of the book, Jim becomes more reflective.  He writes, “I am struggling … to find a way to adequately describe how my religion, Christianity, is or can be compatible with – even complementary to – my passion for fly-fishing, and vice versa.”  In essence, with this book, Jim invites us in to that struggle. 

 

 

He, almost apologetically, says “I have let my Christianity and clergy perspective slip in on the fishing travels at times”;  I say – no need to apologize or worry.  Thank you for bringing us along. 

 

Come and join us on Sunday, August 11, at Angler’s Covey to hear Jim White share the stories and photos in this book – and maybe even a few stories not included – from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.