LIVING TO FISH: TALES OF YOUTH, WAR AND OUTDOOR WRITING

by Fenton Roskelley

Overview

Fenton Roskelley wrote about fishing, hunting and other outdoor sports for over 60 years as outdoor editor or contributing editor for Spokane's two daily newspapers. From the time he was a young boy growing up in Utah and Idaho to his death at 96, Fenton lived the ideal life. Three days a week, he either tossed a fly onto regional lakes, rivers or steams, or pursued wily pheasants, elk and deer throughout the Pacific Northwest. When Tom Brokaw wrote his book about the "Greatest Generation," Fenton was the poster child for whom Brokaw had in mind. In "Living to Fish", Roskelley writes about growing up fishing on Idaho's Salmon River; as a Master Sergeant for an armored battalion fighting through France and Germany during World War II; his talented fishing and hunting pals; his favorite outdoor haunts; and reflects on a long and storied history in the outdoors from the 1920s to present.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940157413798
Publisher:	Yankee Fork Press
Publication date:	02/15/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Fenton Roskelley was born in Franklin, Idaho in January 1917. He was the oldest of five siblings, four brothers and one sister. His dad, Richard Roskelley, a dentist, settled the family in several southern Idaho and northern Utah communities, including Salt Lake City, before moving to Chicago in 1931. Fishing was far too important to Fenton's dad to live in Chicago for long. Just over a year later, Richard moved the family to Challis, Idaho, a small ranch and farm town situated on the banks of the Salmon River, one of the world's finest salmon fisheries at the time. Fifteen-year old Fenton loved Challis, catching sockeye on the Salmon River, the spectacular White Cloud Range, and the wildness of central Idaho where he honed his fishing, hunting, and knowledge of the outdoors. After graduating from the University of Idaho in journalism, he was hired by the Spokane Daily Chronicle as a reporter and copy editor. Shortly after the United States declared war, Fenton was drafted into the army and served in the European theater during World War II. While stationed in England, he met Violet Shipman, a vivacious young British girl, and fell in love. They were married in England in 1945 after the war. Fenton returned to Spokane with Vi to continue his work at the Chronicle and soon became the outdoor editor for the paper. The couple raised their three children, Patricia, John, and Heather, in Spokane and lived there for 68 years. Fenton worked for 60 years for Spokane's daily newspapers, 56 of those years as one of the most prolific outdoor writers of the Pacific Northwest. He was a vorocious reader of all things outdoors; could put a fly between the eyes of a wary trout at 60 feet in a windstorm; instilled fear in the heart of every pheasant that jumped within range of his beloved Browning Auto-5; loved the necessary skills and intricacies of photography; would have won any spelling bee in the country; and could type more words in an hour than most reporters could do so in a day; but you couldn't get him to say more than a sentence at one time even if his life depended on it. Fenton lived through the Great Depression and could have been Tom Brokaw's template for the men and women he referred to as the "Greatest Generation". He died a few weeks after his 96th birthday, still writing, reading, facebooking, and watching his Seattle Seahawks every Sunday.