Fishing with John [Unabridged] [Paperback]

Edith Iglauer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1992

This is a love story; an unlikely convergence of two people from different worlds who were able to make a rich and tender life together, and not only endure each other's company in alarmingly close quarters but revel in it. Edith Iglauer was born in Cleveland and lived an urban, sophisticated life in New York until she met and married John Daly, a commercial fisherman in British Columbia. She spent more than four years on his forty-one-foot troller, the Morekelp until his sudden death. John Daly was an impassioned and greatly talented fisherman who was convinced that he could "think like a fish"; an amateur philosopher who worked out, and followed, an orginal set of beliefs and principles; a mystic who, after forty years of fishing, felt himself to be at one with the sea and the mountains along the British Columbia coast; a scholarly looking, high-spirited, full-blown eccentric who covered the white walls of his pilothouse with his favorite quotations in bold black letters ("Lawyers spend their professional careers shoveling smoke. O.W. Holmes") Fishing With John established Edith Iglauer as one of BC's most popular writers. This unusual West Coast love story sold 16,000 copies in hardcover and continues to be a bestseller in paperback.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A widely traveled reporter for the New Yorker , author of Inuit Journey and Denison's Ice Road , and former foreign correspondent and White House reporter, Iglauer met and married John Daly, a salmon fisherman, while working in Vancouver, B.C. She spent the next four years, until his death in 1978, aboard his 41-foot troller, the Morekelp. Daly was a Canadian eccentric, a man with a deep love of nature, dedicated to the sea. Iglauer's memoir of their life together is a moving appreciation of the precise, hard labor of fishermen, of stunning land- and seascapes along the Pacific coast, of a remarkable man. Time spent with him included listening to radio concerts, visits to old friends in isolated places, joining strikers on a seagoing picket line, savoring the minor pleasures of life. This superb book could be subtitled "A Study in Serenity." A portion of it previously appeared in the New Yorker.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This book of love, marriage, fishing, and the sea reflects the author's profound respect and affection for John Daly, the unusual man whom she married. It chronicles her four years with Daly, a small commercial salmon fisherman in British Columbia. As such, it has only fleeting relevance for salt or freshwater sports fishermen. Instead, the book appeals as a fine tribute to a man and a way of life that general readers interested in the outdoors will appreciate greatly. As companion and observer aboard the Morekelp , Iglauerauthor of four previous books and numerous magazine articlestook so thoroughly to her new circumstances that she continues to reside in Penders Harbour ten years after John's death. Recommended. David J. Panciera, Westerly P.L., Westerly, R.I.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 305 pages
• Publisher: Harbour; 3rd edition (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550170481
• ISBN-13: 978-1550170481
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,016,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful story about a British Columbia fisherman's life., May 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Fishing with John (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful non-fiction book about the life of a British Columbia fisherman written from the point of view of his wife & assistant, Edith Iglauer. Its not a "how I caught the big one" story, but instead a story of a fisherman's daily life, his relationships, and the enjoyment he gets from his work in the great outdoors. Edith Iglauer's writing style is much like the beautiful scenery and natural lifestyle she describes - a pleasure to read

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fishing With John, March 24, 2000

By 

Sandy Archdale (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fishing with John (Paperback)

Wonderful story! John Daly was my husband's uncle, and we used to go to Garden Bay, BC to visit him. We have wonderful memories of John and miss seeing him, even tho' it's been probably 20 years since John died. I'm sorry I never met Edith, altho' my husband Lionel and his aunt Leslie Joslin met her when she gave a reading from the book in Seattle in 1988 or 1989. Now made-for-TV movie on Lifetime Channel, they changed the name to "Navigating the Heart" with Jacqueline Smith and Tim Matheson. Watch if you get the chance (TV characters much younger than actual story, tho'). Would LOVE to get copy of movie to keep with the book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Glimpse into a Well-Charted Course, April 18, 2000

By 

Jean Getchell (Ventura, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fishing with John (Paperback)

"...it was fishing with John that I loved so much." "and he appeared to remain blissfully content to have me there and trying."

What Edith Iglauer doesn't describe is as important to the texture of this book as her detailed accounts of trolling for salmon with John Daly along the coast of British Columbia. The only intimacies she reveals are the everyday tasks required to keep a commercial fishing boat afloat, John's exuberance in the life, home and friends he has made; and his many choices. The restraint Iglauer exercises in chronicling her four years fishing with John invites the reader to consider the centrality of character in any voyage one may take.