Dear Uncle Orrie, I have been lucky to have been raised in a family of so many good role models, and I'd like you to know that you had a great influence on me. We grew up hearing of your achievements, here and abroad, and always looked forward to your visits. Your easy going nature, quick to laugh, but also quick to engage in a serious discussion, that, and knowing we would witness one or more pranks involving my dad, mom, or an unsuspecting animal made for entertaining evenings. The lessons learned were work hard but also have fun along the way. I remember lots of fun memories over the years, trips to the ranch in Colorado, England, and so on, but one that really stands out was fishing at Hamms Fork, in Wyoming. It was the summer of 1980, I think I was sixteen, and you had arranged, or agreed to take me and Scott O'Brien (neighbor friend) on a fishing trip. I think you spent as much time re-tying my gear and untangling my spools, as you did fishing the first day or so. I soon learned to be a little more selective in my casts, and to ration my allotment of hooks, swivels, and crawlers, so I could still be fishing at the end of the day. Also learned to give a skunk in the trail the right of way; they don't back down. And how to remove a tick from the most embarrassing place. It all came together towards the end of the trip when I hooked and landed a large rainbow (24-3/4"). We had caught many in the 18" range, but I'll never forget the power that it had, coming from such a small creek. One more story; In the mid '90's, on trip through Port Angeles when we met for dinner and were discussing the proposed removal of the two dams on the Elwha River. While discussing the merits of it, you explained value of sport vs commercial salmon fishing. Knowing what was spent to catch a dozen fish at Hamms Fork (airfare, gas, gear) has led to a greater understanding of nature's role in our system. I have taken each of my boys as they were growing up, on the warmest late September day, to swim with the salmon as they gather in the pool at the base of the lower Elwha dam. You get a true sense of the size and power of these fish, and how ice cold that water can be even after traveling through two reservoirs. It's been 15 years or so since approval, but the construction project to remove the dams and restore the river begins this September. Love and Peace be with you, Jim and Melody Johannes