I was looking at one of my prized fly fishing rods that was purchased by my friend Kenny, at Angler’s Roost in New York City. When I lived in New York, the small fly fishing shop was in an office building at 141 E 44th St, just off of Lexington Ave. It was a one man shop owned and run by Jim Deren.
Angler’s Roost was one of those places where the merchandise was scattered all over the place, packed to the walls, in seemingly disarray. Jim Deren probably knew where everything was. I always thought that if you moved something a foot away, he’d never be able to find it.
Once I asked him about a fluorescent orange fly line I’d read about and I received a very stem lecture about the trout’s color vision and colors in nature.
Jim Deren died in 1983 and the shop closed. I was lucky enough to buy some fishing gear at the Anglers Roost tag sale and liquidation.
If you have a subscription, there’s a profile of Jim Deren in the April 19, 1982 issue of The New Yorker.