(photo: Marcos Furer)
“Thomas McGuane writes better about fishing than anyone else in the history of mankind.” –Jim Harrison
Yesterday, in New York City, the American Museum of Fly Fishing, located in Manchester, Vermont, honored influential author and BTT Honorary Trustee Thomas McGuane with its 2017 Heritage Award. Guests of the event were treated to a special interview between Mr. McGuane and his good friend and 2014 Heritage Award recipient, Tom Brokaw.
Thomas McGuane has built an impressive literary career, from humble beginnings as the “Humor Editor” at his high school newspaper, The Crane, to becoming one of the most accomplished and diversely talented authors of our generation. He gained acclaim by deftly exploring the depths of human relationships and bringing a decidedly local feel to all of his writing. Whether the context is set in Michigan, the Florida Keys, or the plains of Montana, he deeply understands the environs in which his characters live. The author of over a dozen novels, screenplays, and short stories, his novel, The Bushwhacked Piano, won the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1971 and his novel, Ninety-Two in the Shade was nominated for a National Book Award in 1974. He is also the recipient of the 2009 Wallace Stegner Award, courtesy of the Center of the American West, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters. An avid outdoorsman who has both won Fly Rod & Reel Magazine’s 2010 Angler of the Year and been inducted into the Cutting Horse Hall of Fame (2005), McGuane infuses his works with a rich appreciation of the natural world.
“Thomas McGuane elevated the field of writing about fishing to new heights with the publication of The Longest Silence in 1999,” said Karen Kaplan, the President of the Museum’s Board of Trustees. “We are delighted to recognize not only his immense contributions to literature, but also to recognize him as a world-class angler and conservationist.”
