This book would not have been possible without the generous assistance of the passionate anglers who shared their time and insights to explore how the sport of fly fishing can impact us. To these folks, I offer the most heartfelt thanks. I would especially like to thank Mac McKeever and Robert Tomes, who both offered encouragement and made many introductions on my behalf. I also wish to acknowledge the fine efforts of my agent Stephanie Kip Rostan; my editor Jennifer Levesque; designers Henk van Assen, Loide Marwanga, and Marcela de la Vega; and copyeditor Magdalena Schmidt who all helped bring the book into being. I've had the good fortune over the last thirty years to make many fine fishing friends. This list includes Peter Marra, Ken Matsumoto, Jeff Sang, Joe Runyon, Mark Harrison, Peter Gyerko, Tim Purvis, Geoff Roach, Kenton Quist, Mike Marcus, Nelson Mathews, Kevin Wright, John Smith, David Moscowitz, Ken Helm, Chris Conaty, Bryce Tedford, Darrell Hanks, Hamp Byerly, Mac McKeever, Robert Tomes, Conway Bowman, and Kirk Deeter, among many others. I look forward to many more days on the river with these friends and friends to come. I also extend kudos to Sloan Morris, Keith Carlson, and Doug Mateer, who've helped put fly fishing to music in our band, Catch & Release. Finally, I want to extend a special thanks to my wife, Deidre, and my daughters, Cassidy and Annabel, who've humored my absence on far too many occasions so I could explore what fly fishing means to me…and to my parents, Andy and Tina Santella, who are not anglers, but who always encouraged me to pursue my passions.
