Dear Fellow Flyfishers,
The University Flycaster's and Student Chapter of the American Fisheries Societies, two student organizations at the University of Wyoming, have for the past six years hosted an annual Angler's Symposium on the campus of the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming. The Symposium features angling topics and an expert panel program with speakers addressing topical issues of interest to fly fishers in the Rocky Mountain region.
Jack Dennis has been the lead presenter at the Symposium since its inception. Jack brought Gary LaFontaine to the Symposium for several years, and Gary was a featured and beloved guest. Gary's battle with ALS affected us greatly. Last year the profits from the Symposium were donated to Gary's medical fund. Gary's recent passing has affected us all so . . . to further remember Gary, and honor his many contributions to fly fishing, we will be inaugurating the LaFontaine Collection of fine angling books in conjunction with the 2002 Symposium, on April 12 and 13, 2002.
The LaFontaine Collection will be housed at the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center, Rare Book Collection, along with the Frederick and Clara Toppan Collection. The Toppan Collection was donated to the University of Wyoming on Mr. Toppan's death in 1966. It contains almost 500 highly valued angling titles, including early editions of the Complete Angler, several Frederick Halford books, an original edition of the Western Angler by Roderick Haig-Brown, and may other valuable titles. The Toppan Collection is supported by an endowment from Mrs. Clara Toppan who recently passed away. The Toppan Collection assures professional curation of the LaFontaine Angling Library, which will be available to the public at the University of Wyoming's American Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming. We are seeking donations of valuable and rare editions of angling books published after the mid-1960s, but will welcome selected titles published before Mr. Toppan's death. The holdings of the Toppan collection can be viewed by accessing the University of Wyoming's home page at:
http://www.uwyo.edu;
then going to the sections:
Academics;
Libraries;
American Heritage Center; and
Toppan Library
or going directly to:
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/ahc/depts/toppan/toppan.htm
then using the Ferret search to call up specific titles.
Because of limited space and the need to ensure high quality, titles donated to the LaFontaine Collection will be reviewed by a panel consisting of Anne Marie Lane, Curator of the Toppan Collection; nationally known anglers, authors, and publishers; as well as University of Wyoming's students and staff. We are excited about the prospects for making the LaFontaine Collection a first rate angling library. Our goal is to provide a range of quality books that represent contemporary thinking (since 1967 when Mr. Toppan passed away), concerning fly tying, stream ecology, aquatic entomology, humor in fly fishing, among other topics that Gary enjoyed, by authors whose writings are original contributions to fly fishing. If you will be able to contribute to the LaFontaine Collection, please contact Anne Marie Lane at (307) 766-2565, with the description of the title(s) submitted, and she will give you further details.
Sincerely,
The University of Wyoming Flycaster's
The University of Wyoming Student Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
