Ed and I exchanged a lot of PMs and he shared with me some of the special places he fished and some spectacular pictures of those places and the fish he chased. I, too, knew he was my friend, someone I could just be around and enjoy if we ever had the opportunity. Just yesterday I was thinking about a rod building job we had discussed, about getting back to him on some details and timing.

It is such sad news to me that Ed is gone. It is a reminder that we need to treasure the people that we care for and to let them know before it is too late, to say the things that we feel and think. I believe that Ed knew how much I liked him, and that is the only solace for me in the face of this news.

If you would, Steve, please speak for me to his family and express my sense of loss and my condolences to them. Maybe you could copy this PM and send it along to his family as a note from one of those who will miss Ed and the way he touched the lives of so many.

Thanks.

John