The activist angler / Stephen Duncombe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Duncombe, Stephen, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil disobedience.

Fishing--Philosophy.

Fishing.

Organizational sociology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (168 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York ; London : OR Books, [2023]

Summary:

This elegantly written and charmingly illustrated book offers a series of reflections on the way lessons learned from angling can be applied to political activism and vice versa. Patience, preparation and precision are needed both to catch fish and build a movement. An avid fisherman in his youth, Steve Duncombe put down his rod nearly forty years ago, picking up, instead, a bullhorn and a placard to begin organizing community groups, mobilizing marches, staging direct actions, walking picket lines, and being arrested for civil disobedience more times than he can remember. Over the past decade, he has traveled the globe training activists to think more like artists and artists to think more like activists. Looking for a physical retreat and mental break during the pandemic of 2020 Duncombe took up fishing again. After so many decades away from sport, he had to re-teach himself how to fish and approached the practice with what Zen masters call Beginner's Mind. With no recent experience to fall back on, every fish successfully caught or line hopelessly snarled provided a clear lesson. With hours spent doing little more than casting and retrieving -- actually catching fish being a fraction of the time spent fishing -- he had plenty of time to think about the lessons he was learning. One of the things he thought a lot about was activism. Fishing, he discovered, has a lot to teach about the art of activism. The Activist Angler brings together these lessons in an engaging journey from the street to the beach and back. The format is simple: one refection on fishing followed by another on what might be learned and applied to activism with each accompanied by an illustration. Topics range from telling fish stories and the trap of activist nostalgia, to the impossibility of thinking like a fish yet the necessity of understanding one's audience, with detours through meditations on self-care, catch-and-release, and taking responsibility for the human cost of one's political actions.

Contents:

Front Cover

Back Cover

Half-Title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Activist Angler

Practicing Patience

Time Alone

Varying Your Retrieve

Study the Shoreline

Fishing for Life

It's Not a Competition

Sharing the Jetty

Using the Wind

Surf Fishing vs. Pond Fishing

Shallow, Deep, or In Between

What Fish Like

Think Like a Fish

React Like a Fish

Act Like a Fish

Ask the Locals

Night Fishing

Après Fish

Worms Work

Old Gear, New Line

Better with Beer and Friends

Snarls

Beginnings and Endings

Too Much Mung

Fish Stories

The Thrill

Fish Here Now

Fish Where Fish Are

Fish Move On

Fish Where You Are

Wonder Bread

Testing Tackle

Every Fish Is a Picture

Favorite Spots and New Spots

Fishing with the Family Dog

Fishing for Connection

A Good Day

Setting Your Drag

Breaking Tradition

Catch and Release

Gear

Good Days and Bad Days

Accuracy or Coverage

Angling with Aristotle

Cleaning Up Hooks and Lures

Bright Red Blood

The World Is a Fish

Angler in the Afternoon

Early Worm Gets the Fish

White Man Fishing on the Cape

One Last Cast

Packing Up for the Season

It's Called Fishing, Not Catching

Acknowledgments.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-68219-411-6

OCLC:

1375295600