Goodbye Jack…
As some FF&W readers likely already know, Jack Gartside died last night. Jack was a long-time friend of our family, and was someone who I always looked forward to seeing at shows and so forth. If you aren’t familiar with Jack, just check out his Web site for a taste of his legendarily entertaining and off-beat style of fly tying, fishing, and instructing.
I fondly remember being part of the audience when Jack introduced his “one-slide slide-show” (a pinnacle of typically clever Jack humor). I also remember a cold night in Boston when Jack, serving as cabbie, drove me around the backstreets, regaling me with tales of the famous and infamous who had “been there and done that.” We eventually ended up at one of Jack’s favorite swing-dance clubs (in the upper level of a nondescript building in the middle of who-knows-where in the city), where Jack was immediately welcomed and the ladies all wanted to dance with him. It was one of the best times I ever had on a fly-show trip, and I’ll never forget it.
I’ll also never forget Jack’s kindness to both me and Kelley over the years, and how he always sought me out of the crowd at shows to say hello and ask how I was doing.
Thanks, Jack, for bringing such humor and friendliness to the fly-fishing world. You will be both long-remembered and truly missed…
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Jason,
I have just read the news at Midcurrent. Mr. Jack’s Soft Hackle Streamer and phesant use article are meant a lot to me as a soft-hackle enthusist. Since I had a great time with his Soft Hackle Streamer, I will try his signature fly = Sparrow, that he describes he was lazy to change flies so he wanted one fly to imitate anything…..
Satsohi—The sparrow is a classic, indeed. It’s one of those flies that works all over and just looks good to eat (well, to the fish).