Description
Forging a bond with rugged places and wild creatures, casting to brook trout, or reflecting on the forces that compel people to flyfish, Chad Hanson proves himself a formidable guide. In prose that is wise and observant, he brings us stories of travel, adventure, and concern for the state of the environment. Hanson climbs to the tops of peaks, hikes to the bottoms of canyons, and finds himself lost in snow at high elevation—terrain that is more than geographic and just as exhilarating. Trout Streams of the Heart offers nature lovers—anglers and non-fishers alike—a provocative foray into our relationship with the natural world.
Fly fishing is the thread that binds this luminous collection of essays together. Trout Streams of the Heart is fly fishing plus everything meaningful that surrounds it, if we are paying attention to our lives. And even if we are not, Chad Hanson is. This is writing of the first order—perceptive, colorful, wide ranging, informed, and best of all knowing and wise.
—Robert DeMott,
Afield: American Writers on Fly Fishing
Chad Hanson’s patient descriptions of nature and the North American landscape, filled with all those views of Wyoming’s khaki-colored prairies, are reminiscent of Annie Dillard and Elizabeth Bishop. This collection is a call for help, perhaps even a call to action. Wild places in the West are vanishing. We need these wild places, if only to remind us of untouched beauty, the power of water, the connectiveness of the living, and we especially need these wild kingdoms to remind us that we are not, in fact, the center of the universe.
—Margaret McMullan, author of
In My Mother’s HouseLike all good fly fishers, Chad Hanson takes a lively interest in the natural world around him. When his curiosity takes him to small streams searching for unique fishing opportunities, his questions are not how many or how big, but how and why. His hikes to remote spots and his thoughts along the way can be as compelling as his time on the river itself. As a result, his essays will appeal to a wide audience, even to those who have never wet a line.
—Frank Soos, author of Bamboo Fly Rod Suite
In Trout Streams of the Heart, Chad Hanson offers us a moving meditation on the beauties of trout, the places we find them, and our poignant desire to fool them for moments of grace—and mercy—in our short uncertain lives.
—Scott Sadil, author of Fly Tales
