Liberal Arts Voices

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Internship at Fly Fisherman Magazine: Part 3

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After leaving the office on my last day, I hopped in Betsy (my dishearteningly decrepit ’99 Subaru Legacy) and chugged to my favorite fishing spot. I’d been introduced to the creek back when I first started fly fishing; I know every hole, riffle, and pocket, and the number of times I’ve been outsmarted by the fish there is jaw-dropping. But this day, I had a new plan. My boss had told me of a great spot just downstream of where I’d always wandered, and I’d decided to break my old routine.

After a treacherous wade across the slick streambed, I parted a curtain of willows and gazed at the pool. The stream had widened and slowed, and its whirling waters were glazed with a cool afternoon sunshine. Leafy branches, animated by the breeze, speckled the surface with their pleasant shadows. The water slid onward, powerful yet sedate, and even though the bottom was in plain view–with every swirl, ripple, and bubble clear to my eye–I felt insignificant, and humbled.

Suddenly, a shadow lifted from the windowed creek bottom. Its hue shifted from black to almond brown as it rose, and then it broke the surface, slick speckled spots flashing black and clear in the sunlight.

I quickly crouched, and, guessing completely at what the brown trout was eating, knotted on a fly. With recklessness I lashed the fly through the air, and then settled it onto the gliding water. The swirls of current pulled my offering downstream, and revealed their mysterious paths.

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I came into the first day at my internship with only interests: I liked writing, and I liked fly fishing, and I was pretty good at editing. Why not put them together (and get a great resume booster for grad school and beyond)?

Yet in so many ways, my time at Fly Fisherman magazine has given me much, much more than I originally sought. Of course, I still got the resume boost, and great experience. But what I didn’t count on was the major rediscovery of a hobby that I had forgotten, a true, legitimate experience in editing, re-editing, and re-re-editing (writer’s note: the repetition is just to get across the, you know, repetition), and the discovery that I could see myself pursuing further education, and even a career, in journalism. All the editing, calling authors, creating contracts, and even a little bit of writing(!) gave me a fulfilling pride and enjoyment. I’ve been searching for a career that could give me just that.

In a confusing, scary time of my life, my internship took me in a comforting direction. Whether or not I will continue on its path, the very nature of making me aware of my future has been an important step in growing up.

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Sometimes, the water flows just right. The smooth, eddying currents, mysterious, fickle, and powerful, bend their will on the gently floating fly. The drift carries our tempting faux-morsel to precisely the right spot, which is often not even where we sought to send it. By chance of the currents, of nature, or fate, or predestined action–call it what you will–we are given our reward, and are changed because of it.

The trout, dappled with leafy sunshine, rises, and with youthful exuberance takes the fly.

Internship at Fly Fisherman Magazine: Part 2

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I’ve often found the phrase “the perks of the job” to be an annoyance, mostly because it usually follows a lengthy, overstated summary of tantalizing luxury, fun-packed adventure, and stunningly gorgeous locales-all of which tend to put me into a frenzy of jealousy. It is quite nice, I must say, to be on the other side of the phrase for once.

You see, I was standing in the front (bow?) of a twelve-foot raft, fly rod in hand, surrounded by big, hungry rainbow trout, and trying desperately to cast without looking like a complete amateur. Oh, and the water was moving fast. And there were lots of rocks. At the risk of sounding like a wuss (I am), it was relatively intimidating. I was about two seconds away from going for a refreshing swim, my heart was pounding, and I was loving every second of it.

My internship at Fly Fisherman magazine has (of course) continued since my last blog post, and with quite a few interesting developments. I’ve continued to edit, format, and organize a “best of” anthology of the magazine’s Seasonable Angler columns; I’m relatively close to finishing the collection in ebook form (available for Kindle and other e-readers). As the fall issue nears, I’ve been working with my boss Ross Purnell to edit and format its main articles, and I’ve even gotten to write a few short product reviews, which has definitely been the most interesting process of my internship experience thus far. Seeing the transformation of simple text documents into full-on magazine format, with photos, illustrations, captions, and advertisements has given me serious insight into an important process of the editing business.

A particular thrill has been writing a review of Mikey Wier’s DVD Soulfish 2 (you’ll hear more about him later) in the upcoming fall issue of the magazine. I’ve always wanted to write professionally, which is one of the main draws of an editing career for me; I hoped, but didn’t expect, to get this opportunity when I applied for my internship. Thankfully, it’s gone well, but the jury’s still out. They’re not calling me the Hemingway of DVD reviews just yet.

Truth be told, I’m still enjoying myself a lot. My editing skills continue to improve, and like I mentioned in my first post, the environment that Ross has created for me has allowed me to be confident and make relatively bold moves (as far as editing is concerned, mind you. It’s not as if I’m James Bond in a cubicle, though I often like to think of myself as such). Ultimately, the combination of being good at (or at least feeling good about) my work, getting a chance to do some writing, and seeing how influential an editor truly is in the production of a magazine has begun to convince me that I could enjoy a career in the field.

Let us not forget the perks of the job. Two weeks ago, my family headed out to Lake Tahoe, California, for a week-long vacation. When Ross heard where we were headed, he quickly informed me that the Truckee River, which flows into and out of Lake Tahoe, is an extremely good trout river, and proceeded not only to lend me top-of-the-line fishing gear, but also to get me in contact two excellent writers and fishermen, Greg Vinci and Mikey Wier, who live in California and fish the Truckee often. What followed next were several incredible fly fishing ventures in the midst of a fantastic family vacation. Greg Vinci and his fellow fly fishing buddy Bruch Ajari treated my dad and I to a beautiful, wonderful day on the river, along with a wealth of kind, helpful knowledge that neither of us will forget; Mikey Wier and his fishing friend, Terry, put me in the front (bow?) of their aforementioned raft and gave me the rush of my fishing career. It wasn’t always pretty, but I didn’t fall in, I didn’t snag Mikey or Terry with my fly, and I caught a few really nice fish (see the picture included with this post). Both fishing trips were an absolute blast; I’m a lucky man to have a boss cool enough to set me up for such things, and to have met people gracious enough to put up with me.

I left you with a quote last post, and this time I’ll leave you with one that’s closer to home. As I was fishing with Greg Vinci, my strike indicator hesitated, I set the hook… and nothing happened. “Was that a fish?” queried Greg.

“I don’t think so,” I muttered, “It seemed like a snag.”

“It had to have been a fish. You’re a bad liar,” Greg said with a smile. “If you want to be a good fly fisherman, you’ll have to get better at that.”

I’m an eager student.

Internship at Fly Fisherman Magazine

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I wasn’t in the office on my first day more than five minutes before my tie came off. As I was introduced to my casually dressed coworkers throughout the workspace, my already moderate anxiety leaped toward a full-on panic attack. My perfectly ironed slacks, spotless white dress shirt and (quite fashionable, I should say) Brooks Brothers tie made me stick out like a sore, and rather embarrassed, thumb. After more than one decidedly good-natured chuckle graced my coworker’s lips, my boss pointed to the painstakingly tied Windsor knot around my neck. “Let’s drop the tie, Chris. We’re pretty laid back about the dress code around here.” The slight wardrobe change made a significant difference in my comfort and relaxation, and began the start of a pleasurable, exciting day, but the flak-taking wasn’t quite through yet. As my boss sauntered away, a coworker, his face filled with a friendly yet mischievous grin, quipped, “Well, what are you gonna wear tomorrow, a tuxedo?”

I guess a quick introduction is in order. I’m Chris Wright, a (soon-to-be) senior undergrad student at PSU studying History and minoring in English. I pursued my current internship, an editing position at Fly Fisherman Magazine in Harrisburg, PA, with particular zeal because it combined not only two things I enjoy (editing and fly fishing), but also could, I hoped, give me great insight into a possible career field. As I anticipated, the job is definitely affecting how I view my future career and education plans. But more on that later in future blog posts, perhaps.

My memorable first morning at Fly Fisherman Magazine is a perfect example of one of my favorite aspects of the job so far: a relaxed environment, which allows me to expand my skills and learn new things without fear of excessive pressures or burdens. Editing at the magazine presents tens, and often even hundreds of opportunities to misstep in each article I tweak and pore over; however, lacking a fear of failure, I am able to boldly make decisions, gaining confidence when I succeed, and building upon my editing skill set when I go astray. My boss–Ross Purnell–and all of my coworkers are always ready to answer my questions and give kind, insightful advice. In short, I’ve been dropped into the deep end, but with some pretty big arm-floaties, and maybe even an inner tube, if that helps the metaphor.

On top of my editing work for the magazine’s next issue, I’ve been working on gathering and editing articles from the past ten years of the magazine’s “Seasonable Angler” column (short stories and essays) to put into a “best of” anthology book. Having a large amount of control over what goes into the collection is certainly a thrill, and I’ve been having a lot of fun choosing my favorites and getting in touch with their authors in order to renew contracts.

Speaking of fun, an exceptionally unique part of my internship has been learning the art of fly tying. Later in the summer I’ll be editing a second collection–this one the magazine’s “Fly Tier’s Bench.” Because I’ll need some specific knowledge, Ross has set out to make me fly-tying literate–a process that’s been surprisingly enjoyable, and has provided refreshing periods between some mentally challenging editing work.

I’ll keep you updated on how everything turns out, and end today’s blog with a somewhat pertinent quote by fly-fishing writer Alfred W. Miller: “If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business.” It is my pleasure to avoid this problem entirely.

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