What I was most struck with when republishing The Call Of The Surf was that Heilner was in his early twenties when he co-wrote it along with Stick who was only in his early thirties. Interesting that a man so young as Heilner was (at the time) is now universally cast as a "giant in the sport."
There is a tendency in our sport to equate age, experience, and the era in which we fished with sportsmanship and skill. I have not found the three to be mutually inclusive. There are great fishermen and great sportsmen walking among the living - and some of them are quite young.
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