JC and FAOL

[Rip Tide]

Any expatriates on this site from FAOL might want to stop by over there to check out the news

 

[Joni]

Any expatriates on this site from FAOL might want to stop by over there to check out the news

Sorry wrong button, but on the subject....SHOCKING! and that really sucks.

 

[Rip Tide]

It does suck, Goddess
The man was a giant in our little on-line community.
I've had nothing but the highest of respect, especially in the last year or so.
I think he'll be sorely missed

 

[Joni]

I feel exactly the same way. Had my differences once but as the years went by, we saw more eye to eye

 

[GeorgeMcFly]

I seen this also. I am at a loss for words. my prayers go out to ladyfisher and the family. RIP JC! maybe one day we can meet at the big river in the sky! :icon_cry:

 

[BigCliff]

It is a huge loss to our sport. I was in the large club that Castwell squabbled with over the years, but the man deserved alot of respect for his contributions over the years. I basically learned to tie from that site.

 

[flyguy66]

i was recruited as a columnist over there by deanna and wrote for them for 4 years. i interacted with them extensively. we always saw eye-to-eye on fly fishing issues, so i never had any arguments with them until i got involved with project healing waters. but i saw jc run off a lot of people who really didn't need to be run off. he was very much a "my way or the highway" kind of guy with a short fuse. it was his biz, and he had a right to be that way, though. he and deanna argued about that from time to time...for what it's worth. but another member there, betty hiner, began slandering veterans of iraq and afghanistan and saying that programs like project healing waters were "babying" them unnecessarily. i got pretty upset by that and took issue with her in the forums about it. i was blunt, but not abusive. she got very abusive and attacked me directly and repeatedly. eventually, i responded to her once more and jc threw me off the forum. i emailed him about it and he replied. in that reply, he said that he agreed with betty and that my responses to her were disrespectful of her age...something he would not tolerate. personally, i felt that dishonoring wounded warriors and disabled people was far worse and deserved condemnation. so i wore my banishment as a badge of honor. my columns are still a part of the feature content over there.

i lost all personal respect for jc over that, but my professional respect for his contributions to the world of fly fishing still endure. he and deanna are giants in the fly fishing world. and their impact on the sport and culture shall endure long after their passing. deanna is a gem of a person. and jim's life and work as a fly angler shall always be something i honor. so, yes, the fly fishing world lost something of great value on thursday. and i am a better angler for having known him.

 

[peregrines]

Sad and shocking news...

mark

 

[saltflytyer]

i was recruited as a columnist over there by deanna and wrote for them for 4 years. i interacted with them extensively. we always saw eye-to-eye on fly fishing issues, so i never had any arguments with them until i got involved with project healing waters. but i saw jc run off a lot of people who really didn't need to be run off. he was very much a "my way or the highway" kind of guy with a short fuse. it was his biz, and he had a right to be that way, though. he and deanna argued about that from time to time...for what it's worth. but another member there, betty hiner, began slandering veterans of iraq and afghanistan and saying that programs like project healing waters were "babying" them unnecessarily. i got pretty upset by that and took issue with her in the forums about it. i was blunt, but not abusive. she got very abusive and attacked me directly and repeatedly. eventually, i responded to her once more and jc threw me off the forum. i emailed him about it and he replied. in that reply, he said that he agreed with betty and that my responses to her were disrespectful of her age...something he would not tolerate. personally, i felt that dishonoring wounded warriors and disabled people was far worse and deserved condemnation. so i wore my banishment as a badge of honor. my columns are still a part of the feature content over there.

i lost all personal respect for jc over that, but my professional respect for his contributions to the world of fly fishing still endure. he and deanna are giants in the fly fishing world. and their impact on the sport and culture shall endure long after their passing. deanna is a gem of a person. and jim's life and work as a fly angler shall always be something i honor. so, yes, the fly fishing world lost something of great value on thursday. and i am a better angler for having known him.

Think maybe you should delete this?

 

[Rip Tide]

Think maybe you should delete this?

Fairly common experience I think.
Nothing wrong with telling it like it is

 

[flyguy66]

Think maybe you should delete this?

i think you missed the point, or perhaps you believe that people should lie about stuff to keep it sounding all rosy and perfect. but i said that i honor jc's passing for his very significant contributions to fly fishing in spite of some bad personal experiences with him (which were by no means unique or peculiar to ME). i said i am a better angler because of him. i think that makes my statement even a stronger statement in his honor than had i ignored the negative side of jc that nearly everyone knows was there and acted like he was a saint just because he died.

i, for one, am saddened at his passing even though i've known it wasn't far off for the past year or so. but all of us are a mix of positive and negative traits. and jc was a man of very strong examples of both. and that is how he should be remembered.

 

[mojo]

Think maybe you should delete this?

Give one good reason he should.
For years I didn't get along with Castwell/Birkholm. I was banned twice for saying what I thought, and it didn't sit well with him. We had disagreements, and instead of talking or pm'ing me, I would get banned.
I agree, that he ran a lot of people off. It's a fact. I do think it was a medication thing though. Over the past two years I (under a different name) would post. JC wasn't dumb and I think he knew who I was. It ain't hard to check your ISP #'s. He did seem to change over the past year- a little less tunnelvision if you will. He started to bend and look at things from other sides. Although I didn't agree with him on a lot of things, I did respect him and what he did for the average fly angler and the sport in itself with FAOL and the Fish-In's. He and the Mrs. did create a great & unique family oriented site with a hell of a lot of good advice, articles, flies and great contests and forum (although it's just sometimes a little too sappy for me)
I for one will miss the guy. The world needs people like Jim Castwell.
RIP Mr. Birkholm

 

[BigCliff]

Give one good reason he should.
For years I didn't get along with Castwell/Birkholm. I was banned twice for saying what I thought, and it didn't sit well with him. We had disagreements, and instead of talking or pm'ing me, I would get banned.
I agree, that he ran a lot of people off. It's a fact. I do think it was a medication thing though. Over the past two years I (under a different name) would post. JC wasn't dumb and I think he knew who I was. It ain't hard to check your ISP #'s. He did seem to change over the past year- a little less tunnelvision if you will. He started to bend and look at things from other sides. Although I didn't agree with him on a lot of things, I did respect him and what he did for the average fly angler and the sport in itself with FAOL and the Fish-In's. He and the Mrs. did create a great & unique family oriented site with a hell of a lot of good advice, articles, flies and great contests and forum (although it's just sometimes a little too sappy for me)
I for one will miss the guy. The world needs people like Jim Castwell.
RIP Mr. Birkholm

2nded. I never quite got banned, but got a few "whatever did we do before BigCliff showed up" comments out of him. A bit of a curmudgeon, but one that did WAY more good than bad for this sport.