Many authors and historical literature come to mind on the great subject of American angling. Among the Gierachs’ and McGuanes’ and Hemingways’, somewhere in the middle, lies Sparse Grey Hackle.
Alfred Miller, or “Sparse” as is his adopted nomme de plume, writes with genuine sincerity and G rated humor that is both refreshing and hilarious. As it is with scores of outdoors and angling books, Fishless days, Angling nights is a collection of essays and short stories. From chapters on first camping trips, the woes of night fishing and the exhaustively tedious search for Theodore Gordon’s grave, Sparse writes with a knowledgeable and wholesome wit on a wide range of topics.
One story in the first chapter has Sparse taking into his cabin a group of haplessly unprepared young men after a torrential rain drowns their makeshift campsite. He teaches them some of the basics of cooking, keeping a clean camp, digging a trench for water flow and fishing. By the end of the weeklong deluge and 6 unexpected house guests, he reflects fondly that, “you can’t remember what made good times under such circumstances. It seems trivial and flat in the telling.”
Folks with a genuine interest in American fly fishing and fly tying history will be particularly enthralled by his words and research on the famous fly fishing pioneer and infamous recluse, Theodore Gordon. Sparse interviews and recalls the tales of some of Gordon’s best friends and colleagues, all with various takes on Gordon’s love for the outdoors and the clandestine fervor with which he tied his now famous catskill flies in a small cabin on the banks of the Neversink River.
Although it would seem not as popular or well known in the realm of fishing or sporting literature as other more popular titles, Fishless days, Angling Nights sits proudly among the top of this readers list.
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