I’m sad to report that Jack Gartside lost his battle with lung cancer over the weekend. Jack was one of the most innovative fly tyers of his era. The fly patterns he created, such as the Gartside Gurgler and Sparrow, will continue to both inspire new patterns, and catch fish for anglers long after his passing.
Services will be held later this week in Winthrop, MA and East Boston. Details, including date and time, will be available today on the Ruggiero-Mazzarella funeral home’s web site. If other information becomes available, it will be posted at his website.
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He came to our club in Cincy a few years ago to do a talk and it’s still one of the better presentations I’ve ever seen. All he did was sit in a chair commenting on the slides going by, in the dark. Funny as hell.
-J
Posted on December 7th, 2009 at 10:32 am
I agree he was incredibly innovative, but more than that a great guy with one of the quickest wits I know. When AK Best came up with a commercial version of “the third hand” Jack looked him in the eye and said “I already invented the third hand.” He proceeded to take AK over to his booth and there taped to his vise was a manikin’s hand. He then took the cigarette out of his mouth and stuck it between the fingers of the hand using it as a cigarette holder. He will be missed.
Posted on December 8th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Great story, Dave! Thanks for sharing.
Posted on December 9th, 2009 at 9:17 am
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