by Sid Dobrin; Foreword by Flip Pallot

In the summer of 1995, lifelong saltwater fisherman Sid Dobrin accepted a job as a professor of English at the University of Kansas, taking him far away from the saltwater fishing world that had become not only a substantial part of his life but an essential part of him. The two years he spent away from the ocean gave him the necessary distance and perspective to reflect upon the lure of saltwater fishing life familiar to anglers of all types and abilities--the taste of the sea's salty spray while casting into the surf at sunrise; the calm, quiet drift of a boat on one's home water; the sudden determined tug of a battling fish on the end of a line.

The result is this beautifully crafted collection of essays on a range of topics guaranteed to appeal to anyone who has ever cast a line into the sea, river, or lake in pursuit of wild gamefish. As Flip Pallot says in his foreword, "Nothing is more considerate than a writer leaving enough space between his words and thoughts so as to allow the reader to insert his own." And this the author does, taking the reader along as he visits the universal, sometimes tangled role fathers play in the maturing of a young fisherman; the sanctity and security of fishing one's home waters; the special relationship that can develop between comfortable fishing partners; the pleasure and pitfalls of drinking and fishing; the peculiar allure of angling for redfish and bluefish; and the vital importance of every fisherman accepting his responsibility to care for our increasingly polluted and overfished waters.

Evocative, entertaining, funny, and moving, Distance Casting is an accomplished literary journey through the words and ways of a saltwater fisherman.

Praise for the eloquent and evocative writing and storytelling of Sid Dobrin, author of Distance Casting:

"In our somewhat peculiar and obsessive world of fishing, the highest compliment you can pay someone is not what a wonderful technician on the water he is, but what a pleasure it is to simply be in his company while pursuing the quarries of shared fantasies. Now there's a guy I wouldn't mind fishing with, I'd say of Sid Dobrin. Short of being with him in the wild, a leisurely reading of Distance Casting makes an acceptable substitute."

--Karl Wickstrom
Publisher, Florida Sportsman magazine

"Nothing is more entertaining than reading stories that share much more than the mere events that they portray. Nothing is more considerate than a writer leaving enough space between his words and thoughts so as to allow the reader to insert his own. Nothing is better than closing the back cover of a book and feeling that you were really there and a part of it.

--From the foreword by Flip Pallot
Host of ESPN's Walker's Cay Chronicles

Our guarantee: If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your Sycamore Island Books purchase, we will refund the price of the books -- no questions asked. Some limited-edition titles are nonreturnable, but this will always be clearly stated in advance. We stand behind the quality and content of all our fine books and hope you enjoy them for years to come.