Fishing to Home Waters

Fishing to Home Waters is a departure from Lenny Ackerman’s previous two books which are collections of his newspaper columns. In Fishing, he recounts his travels and exploits over the course of 40 years, with dispatches from around the world, on the never-ending search for the perfect catch. The book is illustrated in full color throughout with his own watercolor paintings.

From his early days taking fly-tying classes in the Catskills to wading the wilds of the Truckee River in California, from tracing Hemingway’s fishing route in the Pyrenees to nabbing a massive 16-pound "ice age" trout in Iceland, for 40 years Lenny Ackerman has fished the world over seeking the perfect catch. It is a passion akin to a love story, told in brief, colorful, essays of subtle wit and poignancy, each illustrated with his own subtly rendered watercolors. There is also ample play-by-play fishing action to appeal to any angling enthusiast. Ackerman invites the reader along to witness the highs and lows, to envision the exotic and pristine landscapes, and to meet the people who shaped his fishing experiences, including his regular companions and fishing guides, friends, and family members. There is also a real love story going on in these pages, between Ackerman and his wife Judie--his high school sweetheart-–whose sunny personality is ever present, until her untimely passing leaves him bereft. After the shock of her loss, the long-traveled road to far-flung fishing destinations ends in Maine, at a camp of his own on East Grand Lake, where in time Ackerman restores his zest for life and finds romance again, with his new love Patti. It is a place of tranquility in nature, and now a magnet for family and friends, that he affectionately calls his Home Waters. 

Lenny Ackerman was born and raised in Rochester, New York, but calls several places home now, including East Hampton, New York, Danforth, Maine, and Palm Beach, Florida. He has practiced law in East Hampton for nearly 50 years, and spends his free time fishing, watercolor painting, reading, traveling, and writing his weekly newspaper column for The Mountain Messenger. He has written several books on matrimonial and estate law. His most recent books are Fishing the Morning: Here Back East Columns from The Mountain Messenger and Here Back East: Collected Columns from The Mountain Messenger.