Sun City’s own Ed Piotrowski is a published author, and he’s not just fishing for compliments. His latest work is A Life Well Fished: ‘Reel’ Adventures and the Stuff That Happened in Between.
Piotrowski said, “A Life Well Fished isn’t just about fishing. There are plenty of fishing tales, but it also chronicles a successful life journey, success not measured in dollars and cents but rather, as one of my readers stated, ‘Celebrates the triumph of family, friends, and fishing … though not necessarily in that order!’”
Sun City resident and author Ed Piotrowski recently released his book A Life Well Fished: ‘Reel’ Adventures and the Stuff That Happened in Between. (Photo by Christine Such/My Sun Day News)
Piotrowski was born and raised in Chicago and is a lifelong resident of its metro area, with previous stops in Bloomingdale and Hampshire. He graduated, tongue-in-cheek, summa cum “nada” from Northern Illinois University in 1974, then spent 35 years in corporate America before retiring. The book is an easy read. It is fun, and thoughtful, and full of fishing adventures and misadventures generously interspersed throughout.
How long did it take him to write the book?
“It was a retirement project; it took five years to complete, though I had a head start with some of the stories,” Piotrowski said.
While at Northern, he and three college friends began a tradition they named “The Symposium,” meeting several times per year to discuss topics mundane to esoteric, their youthful exuberance ready to take on unsolved questions of the ages.
Before graduating, they agreed to continue the tradition by annually writing a letter, each to the other three, then meeting shortly thereafter to discuss the offerings. Through 48 years, the quartet’s letters have ranged from 1 to 85 pages each, filling 7 volumes, and they’re still going strong.
“My letters provided great source material for my book,” Piotrowski said. “As the years went by and the letters evolved to include recaps of life happenings, I would often compose a piece about a fishing trip, many of those containing a humorous episode or two. My friends commented on their enjoyment of those pieces and suggested I consider submitting some for publication.”
Following through on his friends’ recommendations, Piotrowski has had articles published in Muskie magazine, Outdoor Notebook, and Musky Hunter magazine, the latter including a series of articles for a humor column titled “The Parting Line.” The experience was positive and led to the writing of his book.
“Writing this memoir was really a labor of love, my life story from delivery room to retirement. Fishing and the fun in life are the threads that run throughout.”
What was Piotrowski’s biggest catch?
“I hooked myself on numerous occasions, so you could say a 180-pound nincompoop. If we’re talking fish, I’ve landed a couple of 45-inch muskellunge,” he said.
Piotrowski, in his book’s acknowledgments, refers to his wife, Jo Ann, as his life’s best catch. “She has accepted not only my lifelong fishing fervor but graciously tolerated the hours, days, and years I’ve spent clicking away at the keyboard during the course of this project.”
Jo Ann is quite a fisherperson in her own right, having won a bass tournament, much to the dismay of her male competitors. “They couldn’t believe a woman had caught the prize catch,” Jo Ann said.
Short witticisms are prominent in the book with catchy chapter titles, such as “Growing up Chicago – The Guppy Years” and “Fishing for the Meaning of Life.”
The description on Amazon gives the reader a hint of the humor incorporated in the book, “The author has sailed many ‘Cs’: a Chicago childhood; conversations at Crystal Creek; catching carp, catfish, and crappies from the Chain O’ Lakes; consuming czarnina (Polish duck blood soup); college and its collage of characters; the Chicago Cubs (curses!); the chagrin of constipation and colonoscopies; and casting captivating Canadian waters in the quest to catch the fish of a lifetime.”
Piotrowski has received many positive reviews, including the biggest compliment for any author, several readers advising that they liked it so much that they read it a second time. Piotrowski’s book, which includes over 60 photos, can be found on Amazon and delivered just in time for the holidays.
