I learned pretty much all I know about tying from following Al's tying tutorial. Considering that I have been using this site for a few years and only participated recently can be explained by my story about Al Campbell.

I never met Al. I never spoke to Al. I never e-mailed Al. One day, after tying another fly from Al's series, I decided to e-mail him. I wanted to thank him for being the single most helpful and inspirational person to my fly tying. I have searched countless sights, spoke with many people, and even tried being in the local fly shop as long as I was tolerated in order to pick up information.

NONE OF THESE WERE AS HELPFUL AS AL CAMPBELL!!!

When I finally did e-mail him to try and express this to him, my e-mail was never answered. Needless to say, I was too late. It was only then that I started looking at the rest of the site and learned about what happenned. Mr Campbell was an inspiration and a friend I never met, and everytime I'm tying he is there with me, be it through something I only know how to do because of him, a pattern I learned from him, or in spirit, he is there and I'm not only lucky to have known him(even though he didn't know me), I couldn't have done it without him.

That's what led me to pay more attention to the rest of the site. I'm glad that I see more of the big picture now (FAOL or LIFE?).

MY DEEPEST GRATITUDE, THANK YOU AL...