Fishing the River of Time: A Grandfather's Story

by Tony Taylor

Overview

At age eighty, Tony Taylor journeys from Sydney, Australia, to British Columbia to fish the Cowichan River with his eight-year-old grandson, Ned. The trip is an opportunity for Tony to return to a landscape that has had a profound effect on his life and his way of thinking, and to share this place with his grandson. As Tony teaches Ned the patient art of fly-fishing, a lifetime of memories, thoughts, and stories unspool in peaceful reflections by the water's edge. Fishing the River of Time is an elegant meditation on nature, life, and family, written with warmth and wisdom. It inspires self-reflection and an appreciation of the natural world and the fundamentals of our human experience. It is destined to become a classic work of simple living in the mold of Henry David Thoreau's Walden.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771000574
Publisher:	Greystone Books
Publication date:	05/14/2013
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Tony Taylor has studied paleontology and igneous petrology, and worked as a scientific officer at the Natural History Museum in London. He has taught at universities in the U.K. and Australia, and helped to create environmental policy in British Columbia. He lives in Sydney, Australia.

Table of Contents

Map viii

1 The Fluid World 1

2 The Beautiful Simplicity 18

3 Going Back in Time 33

4 The Duty of Memory 48

5 Living in Meade's Cabin 66

6 Big Arthur 81

7 The Secret Coast 99

8 How to Fillet a Fish 110

9 The Arrival of Ned 123

10 The Mad Swede 133

11 Teaching a Boy to Fish 149

12 Mistakes 167

13 Fishing Little Lakes 182

14 The Pilgrims' Final Day 194

Acknowledgments 206

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A superb mix of natural history, biography—and fishing. Not to be missed."
—Tim Flannery

"This is a wise book. If you're a fisherman you'll love it, but also if you're a human being."
—Bill McKibben

"A wise and wonderful book flowing with love for the life of the Earth—human, animal, the great woods, and the deep slow pulse of rock and water. Being about 'something more important than fish,' Tony Taylor's book will delight all who angle for the great and wild things, above all beauty and truth."
—Ronald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress

"In this simple story of a fishing trip with his grandson, Tony Taylor weaves an enchanting tapestry of memories, thoughts, and knowledge with humor and affection. I was enthralled with Fishing the River of Time from beginning to end."
—David Suzuki

"I have read perhaps a hundred books on fishing, and a while ago I decided that the topic has been pretty much covered upside down and inside out. I was therefore pleased to discover that Tony Taylor has produced a marvelously fresh and uniquely educational story about fish, rivers, geology, and grandfathers. If you appreciate any of these things, buy this book."
—Jake MacDonald, author of In Bear Country

Editorial Reviews

"A superb mix of natural history, biography—and fishing. Not to be missed."
—Tim Flannery

"This is a wise book. If you're a fisherman you'll love it, but also if you're a human being."
—Bill McKibben

"A wise and wonderful book flowing with love for the life of the Earth—human, animal, the great woods, and the deep slow pulse of rock and water. Being about 'something more important than fish,' Tony Taylor's book will delight all who angle for the great and wild things, above all beauty and truth."
—Ronald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress

"In this simple story of a fishing trip with his grandson, Tony Taylor weaves an enchanting tapestry of memories, thoughts, and knowledge with humor and affection. I was enthralled with Fishing the River of Time from beginning to end."
—David Suzuki

"I have read perhaps a hundred books on fishing, and a while ago I decided that the topic has been pretty much covered upside down and inside out. I was therefore pleased to discover that Tony Taylor has produced a marvelously fresh and uniquely educational story about fish, rivers, geology, and grandfathers. If you appreciate any of these things, buy this book."
—Jake MacDonald, author of In Bear Country

From the Publisher