"I love the nostalgia and how John sums up angling from a young kid's perspective. Any angler could relate to his passion"
Jim Baxter, author of The Rising Antenna
"I’ve read few better accounts of the breathless excitement of childhood fishing...
Let alone the evolution an angler goes through across decades, venues and experiences"
Dominic Garnett Angling Times contributor
About me
​
Hello, I’m John, a Sheffield-born communications director who now lives in Surrey with my wife and kids. I’m a busy husband, dad, brother and son, but I’m also a mad-keen fisherman.
I've been fascinated by the beauty and mystery of water since I was a toddler and it's a passion that still burns brightly now my hair is grey and I'm approaching 50.
It hasn't always been that way, however, and it took an unexpected period of unemployment, now over half a decade ago, for my deep love of nature, and angling in particular, to be reawakened.
It was only then that, as if shaking off a lingering illness, I was able to spend more time on the bank than I'd managed in many years and suddenly found myself spellbound once more.
I’d never completely forgotten what makes one of the world’s most popular pastimes so special, but my enjoyment had been stifled by myriad 21st Century distractions, long working hours, commuter trains and hectic family life.
After recalling what first captured my imagination, and all the wonderful memories my hobby had provided since, I also started to write my first book: The Magic of Fishing. Although it would take a further six years - and another unexpected redundancy – for me to finish it.
Everyone remembers 2020 as a difficult year and many lost family or friends, or suffered serious illness themselves, due to Covid-19. I was lucky enough to avoid those fates, but several other events conspired to make life feel very difficult for a long time.
Not long after losing my job, I managed to slip two discs in my back, which left me largely housebound for several months. And it was during the first few weeks of physical agony that I also discovered my wonderful mum had been diagnosed with a rare cancer.
She lived life (almost) to the full throughout the remainder of that year but, in the spring of 2021, we lost one of the most special, incredible women I’ve ever known. Nothing can replace a parent, of course, yet there was one small, surprising and good thing to come out of that dark period...
Not only did I finally finish my book, but I eventually found a publisher willing to print a few copies too. So it seems some dreams really do come true.
The book
Part homage to angling and part coming-of-age story, The Magic of Fishing features twenty-two short chapters about family, friendship, love, death, ghosts and, of course, fishing. It's a charming celebration of a personal passion and one of the UK’s most popular pastimes, but it’s not a typical fishing book.
While angling publications are often instructional, or based on the memoirs of professional anglers with existing profiles in magazines or TV shows, this one is written by me – a 40-something business executive who spends most of his time working and raising four children.
I started writing during a rare break from the office, when I was reminded of the sheer joy of fishing and the ‘magical’ element that first captured my imagination. Much like the philosophical musings of Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer in the BBC’s popular Gone Fishing series, I realised just how much angling had enriched my life, and indeed the lives of all those under its spell.
Having lived in Surrey for nearly two decades, I was inspired to recount my close relationship with Joe Moorwood, my paternal granddad and a retired steelworker, who taught me about fishing while I grew up in Sheffield. I then take a nostalgic, moving and humorous look back at an era before social media, smartphones or carbon fishing rods – relating how my hobby and life have evolved over four decades.
Written in a simple, evocative and touching style, it’s primarily aimed at the masses of anglers who, like me, won’t ever catch a record fish or appear on the cover of an angling magazine, but can still appreciate what it’s like to dream about ‘the one that got away’.
Yet it should also appeal to nature lovers, the fishing-curious and all sentimental types who still believe in the existence of magic.
Huge thanks and credit are due to my talented sister, Anna, who is a Sheffield-based artist and provided the fantastic sleeve design.
Please checkout www.annastephenson.art
Likewise, sincere thanks to my dad for the for the lovely pencil sketches which feature at the beginning of each chapter.
Gallery
A small selection of chapter sketches, by my dad, and photography from the book...
