[Crafty Angler]

I can't tell you how disappointed I am to hear that about Tom's column.

Anyone who has ever met him or spent any time with him will tell you first and foremost he's a helluva nice guy and an extremely well-rounded outdoorsman in addition to his skill as a field-and-stream writer.

He's always taken column space to address important conservation issues that affect us all - and as a spokesman for the sport, the loss of his column is going to leave a gaping hole in the community of men, women and their children who still participate in the enjoyment of the natural bounty and beauty of our small state.

This is just an incredibly short-sighted decision on the part of the managing editors. I'd be more than happy to sign a petition in support if one were to be started on his behalf.

Let me tell you of my personal experience with Tom Meade.

In 2005 when I had just started the Angler's Art, Tom heard about what my wife and I were doing and called me and asked for an interview.

We arranged to meet at my mini-gallery here in Newport and Tom, my wife and I sat and talked for the better part of the afternoon, perhaps 3 or 4 hours. I figured I would get a brief mention in the column and when we got our Sunday Journal, I was floored to find that his story on my wife and I and the Angler's Art was on the front page of the sports section and ran the whole column. While it was great exposure for us as a business to the broader community, most of the column dealt with the important conservation issues Tom and I had discussed that afternoon.

Like all his work, it was well-written and insightful and it seemed like everyone I knew cut out the article and sent it along to us. I still have a file folder full of those clippings. Tom also supplied me with a number of contacts and offered further help with a research project I had started back then on the history of Newport County's great striped bass clubs of the late 1800's. I haven't given up the ghost on that project and after the holidays I'm going to resume my work on it - after I began it, the depth and breadth of the subject floored me and I found it spoke to the very same issues we face today. It really is a cautionary tale and I intend to contact Tom again as it moves along over the course of this winter.

As you may or may not know, Tom recently had some serious health concerns and it appears that he's doing well and although I haven't spoken with him in a while, I'm going to email a link to this thread to him to let him know what the members here think of this ill-considered decision on the part of the Journal's managing editors.

First and foremost, Tom is a gentleman and a talented writer who will be sorely missed if this comes to pass.

This decision on the part of the Journal really has to be reconsidered.

Personally, I don't think there has ever been a time when it has been more important to have an outlet like Tom's columns to keep our community abreast of the issues and also encourage young people to discover the great joy of the outdoors and learn those valuable skills and lessons a life in the field will give you.

Although I'm sure Tom has received letters of support, I'm going to email him a link to this thread to let him know about how the members here feel about this.

I can't believe in a time of dwindling subscriptions and a drop in news-stand sales that the Providence Journal would consider alienating a part of their readership.

I think at this point they really do need to reconsider this move given the reaction it has caused.