Читать книгу The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Smoky Mountains - Greg Ward - Страница 6

Acknowledgments

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WHERE TO START?

BORN A MILITARY BRAT, I would like to acknowledge the good sense of my father, Don Ward, for moving us home to my mother’s native east Tennessee; thanks to my mother, Joan, for letting me spend so much time in the mountains and for taking me there whenever I wanted before I learned to drive. Thanks and much appreciation to my loving wife, Diane, who had no problem with me leaving perfectly gainful employment with the state of Tennessee to pursue my dreams of opening a fly shop and starting a guide service. Thank the good Lord for giving me the ability to write with no formal training except for what my high school English teacher, Donna Cantrell, and my English major wife, who’s always my first editor, have managed to drum into my stubborn head. Thanks to my daughters—Crystal, Lauren, and Sara—for being such great fishing and hunting buddies over the years. Thanks to my brother Don for teaching me how to fish with explosives. And many thanks to my Uncle Tom Norton for taking me fishing and hunting every chance he got after my dad passed away in 1976 (the keys to the Ranger bass boat and Toyota Land Cruiser helped a great deal as well!). I owe a lot to my late Uncle Gene Lawson and all those nights on Douglas Lake listening to whippoorwills. The many deer camps in Lower Alabama with Uncle Gary, Tommy Joe Norton, Taylor, and Uncle Tom have a special place in my heart.

Thanks to my great friends from the shop and all my fishing buddies, especially Chris Johnson; Brandon Ogle, who is the closest I ever got to having a son; Cory Smith and Jesse West for taking care of trips while I worked on this book; authors like H. Lea Lawrence, Wilma Dykeman, Dave Whitlock, Mel Krieger, and Tom Rosenbough. I always wanted to be Dave Whitlock when I grew up.

Special thanks to Don Kirk for his great stories, numerous phone calls, and hours on the water—and for trusting me for up-to-date knowledge and material. Kudos to Molly Merkle with Menasha Ridge Press and Keen Communications for putting up with me and my lack of computer know-how.

And last but not least, thanks to Jim and Chris Gray for such a perfect cover for a book on the Smokies.

THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON.

As I was loading a couple of suitcases into my SUV for a weekend over the mountain to celebrate my 22nd wedding anniversary, my cell phone rang. It was Don Kirk asking me to go look at some photographs of the Smokies and get permission to use one for the cover of our book. I was thinking of using a Jim Gray painting instead, which I must have thought out loud because within moments Don said, “Go to www.JimGrayGallery.com and pull up Sanctuary.” Sanctuary is a painting of two men doing what they love most: Chris Gray fly-fishing Ramsey Prong, and his dad, Jim, painting a picture of the beautiful scenery of the Smokies with his son in the middle of it. The Grays have been long-time friends of my family, and within minutes I emailed Chris to get permission to use his dad’s painting for the cover of the Ultimate Fly-fishing Guide to the Smoky Mountains. Jim said it would be an honor—and just like that Sanctuary became the cover of our book.

Things happen for a reason.

—GREG WARD

The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Smoky Mountains

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