Howell Raines
Author of My Soul Is Rested: Movement Days in the Deep South Remembered
About the Author
Howell Raines is a veteran journalist and former executive editor of The New York Times.
Image credit: Eye on Books
Works by Howell Raines
Associated Works
Booknotes: America's Finest Authors on Reading, Writing, and the Power of Ideas (1997) — Contributor — 437 copies, 5 reviews
A Nation Challenged: A Visual History of 9/11 and Its Aftermath (2002) — Introduction — 206 copies, 2 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1943-02-05
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
New York, New York, USA - Education
- Birmingham-Southern College
University of Alabama - Occupations
- journalist
editor (newspaper)
columnist - Organizations
- Atlanta Constitution
St. Petersburg Times
The New York Times
Condé Nast Portfolio - Awards and honors
- Pulitzer Prize (Feature Writing, 1992)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 537
- Popularity
- #46,380
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 1
- ISBNs
- 24
- Languages
- 1
While all of this is self indulgent, Raines has the decency to admit it. The book ends with an affirmation that his fishing is ultimately a selfish activity, and one that he refuses to feel bad about.
Raines personal development provides a frame for the meat of the book, which consists of interviews, snippets of history, entomology and biography related to fly fishing and its development. Raines uses his clout as an NYT big shot to interview famous anglers, conservationists, and even gets to go spin casting with the, then president, George H.W. Bush. In fact a surprising amount of the book is dedicated to presidential fisherman most notably Hoover, who fly fished his private streams while the country went to hell, and Carter who had private lessons with Lee Wulf (the greatest American fly fisherman of the 20th century) at camp David.
The heart of the book is Raines friend ship with Dick Blalock, a former foreign-service officer who Raines suspects is a former or current C.I.A. officer. What Blalock is, is a larger than life epicurean who cooks braised lamb instead of trout at his streamside cabin, and who calls up radio shows to harass the republican governor of Maryland so often that the governor knows his voice. Blalock serves as Raines and the reader's guide to the philosophy of fly-fishing and conservation, while proving that fishing is more about the people you do it with than how many fish you pull out of the stream.… (more)