I have been spending time down in the FAOL Archives, coping and pasting, past articles! I do this for my own use, and to share with others! I have many of the different “Features” columes updated, and others that I have been meaning to get around to but have not completed yet. Turning the articles into PDF (Adobe Reader) format.
I have been working in “Al Cambells Field Editor Column” and came across and article by Al, that gave me pause, to reflex on what Al meant to me, and how those who never met or knew Al, were missing. He was a writer (hoping to become a author, with his writings published in books), but that never happened. He wrote for FAOL, as well as some magizines, and the local newspaper in South Dakota.
But Al was more than that, more than I beleive any who actually knew and met Al, realized when he walked among us.
Then I came to an article of Al’s that struck a chord, about leaving a legacy after we are no longer among the living, and what good came out of our life.
Here is an article that ran on January 28th, 2002. I think it is worth reading if you have never read it, or re-read it again if you have. Maybe it will help us to really know the treasure that we can share with others, by our own efforts and some ways helping.
That is a great article and I appreciate you “digging” it up for us. I am one of those that never got a chance to meet Al and, at the same time, feel like I have know him all my life. I really do miss him…
He is always on my mind when I am tying flies. His articles here on FAOL have been so helpful to me. I have taught Beginner’s Fly Tying over 13 years to many young and older and have always used Al’s tying instructions as the base of the instructions. I have used his instructions so much that sometimes I feel guilty for never asking him if that was OK. He will always be remembered by me and I will always regret not meeting him and just sitting and watching him tie and “soak” up everything he said.
Thank you so very much…He is right up there with the great ones in my book…Plus I even know exactly what old movie he said he was watching because I watched it again about 2 weeks ago…I miss Al~
When I first started fly fishing a search on the internet turned up FAOL. The first place I visited was one of Al’s articles. He has certainly made a lasting impression on me and I am sure those children he spoke about will remember him as well.
This site, the people who frequest the site and the contibutors to the site all have a legacy that will be remembered for many years to come.
Some say the are 3 stages of a fisherman’s life. First, it’s getting the most fish. Next, it’s getting the biggest, and finally it’s success with the most difficult ones to catch.
In life as in fishing we often measure our success with the most , the biggest, or whether we have overcome the most difficult obstacles.
I believe, however, there are actually 4 stages. They may overlap and are not necessarily in a specific order. the 4th stage of a fisherman’s life is the most satisfying and endring of all, and the one most surely remembered by others after we are gone.
You will know where you have achieved this 4th stage when your greatest satisfactions comes not from getting the most, the biggest of the moost difficult, but from sharing your tiem, your knowledge and your experience with others.
I never met Mr. Campbell, but he was obviously in this 4th stage of a fisherman’
Thanks Parn,
I’d forgotten that article. The Lord blessed that man with the gift of teaching, and that legacy will live a long time. I’m sure He is blessing Al as we speak.
I miss him too. He had so much to give and all we had to do was ask.
I wrote the following almost 10 years ago, and posted it on another fly fishing bulletin board:
"Some say the are 3 stages of a fisherman’s life. First, it’s getting the most fish. Next, it’s getting the biggest, and finally it’s success with the most difficult ones to catch.
In life as in fishing we often measure our success with the most, the biggest, or whether we have overcome the most difficult obstacles.
I believe, however, there are actually 4 stages. They may overlap and are not necessarily in a specific order, but the 4th stage of a fisherman’s life is the most satisfying and enduing of all, and the one most surely remembered by others after we are gone.
You will know where you have achieved this 4th stage when your greatest satisfaction comes not from getting the most, the biggest or the most difficult, but from sharing your time, your knowledge and your experience with others."
Obviously, Mr. Campbell was a stellar example one who was in this 4th stage of a fisherman’s life, and got great satisfaction from sharing his knowledge with others, and particularly those youngsters who were just beginning their fishing lives. Yes, Mr. Campbell, you will be long remembered!