Hero.  Heroism.  Heroic.  Different words to different people.  What makes a hero?  What truly defines heroism?  What make someone heroic?  There are no clear cut definitions, no right answers.  Good parents are heroes.  Good role models are heroes.  Performing a selfless act is a form of heroism.  Firefighters can be heroic.  Search and rescue personnel are definitely heroic.  In literature (this can include movies, comics, etc.), all heroes embark on physical and/or spiritual rites of passage that earn him/her the title of “hero”.

     In large, the definition of hero is an opinion.  Criteria will vary from person to person.  The eye of the beholder is really the only true judge of a hero, or an act of heroism.  And,  in most cases, there are no right or wrong answers.  Just records of deeds, achievements, contributions, etc., that may or may not be deemed heroic.

     Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen are heroes.  They turned the world on its ear.  They revolutionized.  They dominated.  They rocked.  Hard.  They inspired a goofy 12 yr. old to play the guitar so frequently that he actually made a recording with Frank Zappa’s producer.  Who’d have thought?

     David James Duncan is a hero of mine.  He has made me laugh.  Boisterously.  And cry.  Heartily.  He has also made me think.  Deeply.  And he’s done it with only his writing.  Someone who can do those things with the written word is heroic.

     My dad is my hero.  Heroes can let you down.  Heroes are human.

Sometimes I need to go to a happy place.  This is one of them.  I don’t get there as often as I’d like, but if I did, maybe it wouldn’t be so happy.

Once upon a time, there were so many coho they could be caught on a fly rod.  And killed.  And eaten. 

That’s an old Cairnton 8-wt and a fairly old Fenwick World Class reel.  And my dad-love him.