Yesterday was one of those days that started off just a bit off kilter. You know that sort of day where it feels like you’re a step and a half behind. And no matter what you do, it’s all but impossible to catch up (or even fool yourself into thinking you’re caught up).
I just knew there was a major disturbance in the force out there somewhere and it showed up in the form of a text from a friend sharing the news that Keith Baron was closing down Singlebarbed.
Among the self-absorbed, navel-gazing, occasionally petulant world of fly fishing bloggers Keith is a bonafide legend, cranking out damned original content for seven years. Seven years is a relative eternity in the blogosphere as was aptly pointed out by Tom Chandler in his heartfelt tribute to Singlebarbed yesterday.
There are (at least) three reasons we’ll miss KB’s work at Singlebarbed:
Behind that quirky prose lurks a true writer. Several years ago we had the pleasure of working with KB on a short lived writing / magazine project. In doing so I had several phone and many email conversations with Keith and not unsurprisingly discovered him to be, among other things, a voracious reader – as most true wordsmiths are. His mastery of vocabulary is almost Buckley-esque (though he’ll likely cringe at that comparison).
Cranking out a steady stream of original content, be it a blog or column or something else, ain’t easy, though he made it look deceptively so.
He holds no cows sacred in the industry. KB didn’t shy away from slinging a little mud at the hypocrisy of the fly fishing industry giants when deserved. A couple of years ago we’d both posted scathing criticisms of a certain manufacturer of very expensive and over-hyped gear.
After receiving a ‘shut up and knock it off’ email from said manufacturer (though they could have just driven by and said it in person), I emailed KB to see if he’d received the same. His response made me green with envy – ‘they know better than to mess with me’.
He’s one of the most creative tiers around these days. KB’s been wrapping strange natural and unnatural materials on hooks for some time now and knows as much about it as anyone alive on the planet. Few, if any, have written about it so eloquently. His dubbing product may be the greatest invention since the wheel.
As if to see for myself this morning I clicked over to Singlebarbed today for what is likely the last time and beheld what Keith hisself would call a damned ironic ad placement on his site – an ad for Fine Featherheads hair products.
KB’s still spewing irony the day after the door closed. Well done friend.
