Dumb Luck and the Kindness of Strangers

“Shrewd, perceptive and wryly funny… . Mr. Gierach, the man who coined the term ‘trout bum,’ is arguably the best fishing writer working.” – Bill Heavey * The Wall Street Journal *
“Gierach’s inviting, down-to-earth, and humorous work shares a deep love of fly-fishing and the ways it can be a metaphor for life.” * Publishers Weekly *
“From the zen of aging to the tao of tying flies, from palm-size brook trout to leg-length muskies, Dumb Luck and the Kindness of Strangers is the best yet from fly-fishing’s favorite cosmic uncle.” – James R. Babb, author of Fish Won’t Let Me Sleep
“Those looking for how-to tips will find plenty here on rods, flies, guides, streams, and pretty much everything else that informs the fishing life. It is the everything else that has earned Gierach the following of fellow writers and legions of readers who may not even fish but are drawn to his musings on community, culture, the natural world, and the seasons of life.” * Kirkus Reviews *
“John Gierach is an original, which is why each new book is welcomed by so many anglers as joyously required reading. Pardon the interdisciplinary reach, but Gierach’s stories are rather like McCartney’s music—on the one hand vitally fresh, yet on the other hand instantly familiar. Don’t worry about how he does that—just keep reading.” – Paul Schullery, author of The Fishing Life and A Fish Come True
“John Gierach gives us fishing as the alert life; people, places and rivers seen by a first-rate noticer whose amiable disposition never alarms the prey.” – Tom McGuane

John Gierach was the award-winning author of more than twenty books about fly-fishing. He was beloved as “the voice of the common angler” and inducted into the Fly-Fishing Hall of Fame in 2015. He lived in Lyons, Colorado, with his wife Susan de Castro McCann until his passing in 2024.

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