Ed Story ~ Feathercraft

[Danoinark]

Saw on another site that Ed Story, long time owner of Feathercraft in St. Louis and originater of the Crackleback and other flys passed away today. I can't find any details. Please post if you have information.

Dano

[flyfshn]

He passed away last night, but I dont have any other details. I was in there at lunch and no one said a word about it!! Will let you know as more info is released.

[jdmidwest]

Prayers for Bob and the rest of the staff at Feather-craft, we've lost a great guy.

[BuschTrout22]

Dang

I was in there in the last two weeks and the guys mentioned there he had suffered two heart attacks like back to back

What blow to the community and to the fishing sport.

What a great guy he was

Long live the crackleback!!!

[timsfly]

I hate to hear that, in my early days when I worked at the lodge in roaring river state park, Ed helped me many times with gear and other items I needed.

He will be missed, he was a great guy.

I still use his book a lot, it a great read, I refrence stuff in it all the time.

[jdmidwest]

I talked to Bob a year ago or so and tried to get him to reprint the book. I saw one on Ebay last month and posted a link to it, nobody bid on it.

I still look over the copy I bought from Charlie Reading years ago.

[timsfly]

It is a great book, I keep one at the shop and one at home. I look at them quite often.

[Project Healing Waters]

We need to establish an annual fly fishing event in his honor and call it the Crackleback Festival or something like that.

Ed was a big supporter of Project Healing Waters. Ironically, the board of Ozark Fly Fishers voted in favor of sponsoring a Project Healing Waters program at the VA hospital at Jefferson Barracks last night and signed the paperwork. I got the call first thing this morning. Last I heard, there were still several Project Healing Waters fly rods available for purchase at the store. For every one purchased, $25 goes to www.projecthealingwaters.org

Rest in peace, Ed.

[snagged in outlet 3]

I first met Ed when his shop was on St. Charles Rock Road by the airport and it had to be 30 or more years ago. He was the nicest guy in flyfishing! My dad took me in his shop to tie flys when i was a boyscout. He helped me catch more fish than anyone. His contribution to the sport is beyond compare, especially in Mo and AR.

Prayers for him and his family.

SIo3

[Bill Butts]

SIO3~

I know you and especially your father have known Ed for a very long time.

Most of the guys on this forum that have been fly fishing for a while are very familiar with Feather-Craft, but most probably don't know a lot about its history or about Ed.

If you could paste his obituary into a post, I think the members would appreciate reading a little more about the man.

His history in the fly fishing business dates back to the 50's and his willingness and passion for sharing fly casting and fly tying skills touched countless men, women and children over the decades.

Along the way, he built a wonderful mailorder business thru his uniquely typed "bulletins" (virtually no punctuation or spell-check) that pre-dated the current catalog format which then and today share more personal testimonies of experience with fly fishing products than any catalog or publication in the industry. Truly a valuable resource.

Ed will be missed and remembered by many in our beloved sport, but if you've met or talked with his son, Bob, you also know that the future of Feather-Craft is in the good hands of a good man. Ed Story's fly fishing legacy lives on.