Details
It seems to me that an author’s first book is an incredibly fragile thing, as delicate as a wildflower on a cold spring day. Any gust of wind from the wrong direction, at an inopportune moment, might result in the disappearance of something beautiful; never to be seen, or enjoyed, or understood. I’m heartened that Steve Ramirez’s first journey on the path to publication has resulted in the recognition that his insightful prose is something important, as significant as a wildflower on a cold spring day.
—
Signed by the author
Illustrations by Bob White
Hardcover, 240 pages
6.38 x 0.95 x 9.36 inches
Lyons Press (November 1, 2020)
In Casting Forward, naturalist, educator, and writer Steve Ramirez takes the reader on a year-long journey fly-fishing all of the major rivers of the Texas Hill Country.
This is a story of the resilience of nature and the best of human nature. It is the story of a living, breathing place where the footprints of dinosaurs, conquistadors, and Comanches have mingled just beneath the clear spring-fed waters. This book is an impassioned plea for the survival of this landscape and its biodiversity, and for a new ethic in how we treat fish, nature, and each other.
—
From the Foreword, by Ted Williams
If you are an angler or even if you just love wild things and wild places, don’t miss this important book by Steve Ramirez—poet, philosopher, outdoor wordsmith, hunter, fisherman, naturalist, and United States Marine.
It’s a book with plenty of fishing for beautiful native species North American anglers don’t often encounter and, in many cases, don’t even know about. And all scenes are described in words that put you in the streams, feeling the cool push of spring water against your waders, scenting fresh earth, wildflowers, new and old leaves, hearing the songs and calls of birds, watching hatching insects and rising fish, reacting to gentle takes and savage strikes. But it’s not a fishing book.
It’s an eloquent ode to Ramirez’s beloved Texas Hill Country, a journal of personal healing, and a lesson for all anglers that there’s far more to fishing than fish—that when we pay attention to the life and geology around fish, fishing becomes far more than a sport.
—
Editorial Reviews
“Casting Forward belongs alongside Holy Ghost Creek and A Fly-Fishers Blue Ridge as books that perfectly capture the essence of place, and our part in it. You would not be mistaken to say that this book is about the Texas Hill Country. Steve is, after all, a master naturalist and a master storyteller. But Casting Forward is about so much more than the outdoors and nature. It is a story of one man’s journey through rivers and mountains to live a life well lived and loved.”
~ Chris Wood, President/CEO, Trout Unlimited
“Every bit the unique sort of Hill Country artistry as a Jerry Jeff Walker show at Gruene Hall. These words are incredibly honest, gritty, and melodic… sometimes rowdy, always soulful. Steve Ramirez has an uncanny knack for conveying the 360-degree perspective of fly fishing like only an author who has seen so much—and felt so much—can. He’s an angling balladeer.”
~ Kirk Deeter, Editor-in-Chief, Trout Unlimited/Trout Media
“Casting Forward by Steve Ramirez is an elegant ode to one of the great, lesser known fly-fishing regions of the United States – the Texas Hill Country. With every line of every chapter, Emily & I marveled at Steve’s gifted vision of this river realm that we love so much and all its native treasures. Take a journey through the eyes of this unique warrior, fly fisher and inspired writer … it might just be good for your soul.”
~ Dave Whitlock, Author, Artist, Teacher, Fly-fisher
—
About the Author
Steve Ramirez is a writer, educator, master naturalist, philosopher, and outdoor adventurer who lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country. He has lived in and traveled across four continents chronicling the unique historical landscapes, human cultures, and natural worlds that are in danger of vanishing.
Steve’s stories have been published in various magazines and journals, including but not limited to: Trout, Under Wild Skies, Explore, Texas Sporting Journal, Texas Trophy Hunters, The Houston Literary Review, Cutthroat: Journal of the Arts, and The Pecan Grove Review. He is an avid fly-fisher, hiker, naturalist, hunter, and outdoor educator who lives in a house in the hills, surrounded by trees. He lives in Boerne, TX.
