Tom Friedemann

Oklahoma has long been recognized for its premier career-tech education system. The difference between Oklahoma's system and those in other states is its unique form of governance and funding not found anywhere else in the country. To make this visionary system possible an amendment to the Oklahoma constitution was required. Amending Oklahoma's constitution was not an easy task and required support from both republicans and democrats, the governor, both houses of the legislature, the public and private sectors as well as the media. Such bipartisan cooperation seems unrealistic in today's polarized political climate, but it happened in 1966 because of the courageous and unselfish leadership of a few outstanding Oklahomans who had a vision of how their state could accomplish something in education that would be the envy of the nation. All the stars had to align themselves in just the right way to make it possible. This is how it happened.

Oklahoma has long been recognized for its premier career-tech education system. The difference between Oklahoma's system and those in other states is its unique form of governance and funding not found anywhere else in the country. To make this visionary system possible an amendment to the Oklahoma constitution was required. Amending Oklahoma's constitution was not an easy task and required support from both republicans and democrats, the governor, both houses of the legislature, the public and private sectors as well as the media. Such bipartisan cooperation seems unrealistic in today's polarized political climate, but it happened in 1966 because of the courageous and unselfish leadership of a few outstanding Oklahomans who had a vision of how their state could accomplish something in education that would be the envy of the nation. All the stars had to align themselves in just the right way to make it possible. This is how it happened.

When Tom Friedemann's thirty-one-year marriage to his high-school sweetheart ended, he was crushed. But then a fly-fishing buddy gave him a handwritten piece of advice that read, "Just go fishing and everything will be all right." He followed that advice and found it to be the perfect salve. In this collection of stories, he celebrates his love affair with fishing and journaling-a journey that began in 1963 in Oklahoma after he caught a 13/4 pound largemouth bass on a red-and-white Martin Fly Plug using a Mitchell 304 spinning reel with a solid glass rod. That was the beginning of a journey that led to a life of contentment-one that carried him into his seventies and served as an antidote for the challenges he faced in earning a college degree, establishing a career, raising a family, and eventually retiring. Join the author as he shares how journaling has magnified the satisfaction that comes when one of God's creatures gives you the ultimate compliment of taking your artificial fly or lure because he thought it was prey.

When Tom Friedemann's thirty-one-year marriage to his high-school sweetheart ended, he was crushed. But then a fly-fishing buddy gave him a handwritten piece of advice that read, "Just go fishing and everything will be all right." He followed that advice and found it to be the perfect salve. In this collection of stories, he celebrates his love affair with fishing and journaling-a journey that began in 1963 in Oklahoma after he caught a 13/4 pound largemouth bass on a red-and-white Martin Fly Plug using a Mitchell 304 spinning reel with a solid glass rod. That was the beginning of a journey that led to a life of contentment-one that carried him into his seventies and served as an antidote for the challenges he faced in earning a college degree, establishing a career, raising a family, and eventually retiring. Join the author as he shares how journaling has magnified the satisfaction that comes when one of God's creatures gives you the ultimate compliment of taking your artificial fly or lure because he thought it was prey.