Ernest George Schwiebert (1931–2005) was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on June 5, 1931. An

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

by profession, Ernest "Ernie" Schwiebert was a renowned angler and angling author. Schwiebert spent his childhood in the Midwest, attended high school at New Trier, north of Chicago, earned his bachelor's degree in architecture from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, and earned two doctorates at Princeton in architecture and the history and philosophy of architecture.

Life story

Ernest Schwiebert married Sara Mills in 1957 and had one son (Erik) and two grandchildren (Elisabeth and Turner). Having served in the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, he specialized in planning

airports An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface such ...

and military bases. Traveling on business, he also visited some of the world's best fishing streams, feeding a passion that had begun during boyhood vacations on the Pere Marquette River in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. In 1977 he left the engineering firm of Tippets, Abbott, McCarthy & Stratton, New York. He made scholarly contributions throughout his life as a writer, architect, and student of the art and science of fly fishing for trout and

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

. He wrote more than 15 books about fly fishing and architecture. Ernest Schwiebert, also known as Ernie, was a pioneer in the fishery conservation movement and was involved in the founding of

Trout Unlimited Trout Unlimited (TU) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, other aquatic species, and people. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. ...

, Theodore Gordon Flyfishers and the Federation of Fly Fishers. He has served as a Director of both Theodore Gordon Flyfishers and the Atlantic Salmon Federation, and on the scientific advisory boards of TU, FFF and

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

. In recognition of his contributions, a Trout Unlimited Chapter in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

is named for him. He was best known for his extensive writings about fly-fishing. His books include ''Matching the Hatch'' (1955), ''Nymphs'' (1973), ''Salmon of the World'' (1970), and the two-volume ''Trout'' (1978). He wrote numerous magazine articles and short stories which were published in such collections as ''Remembrances of Rivers Past'' (1972), ''Death of a Riverkeeper'' (1980), and ''A River for Christmas'' (1988). An often referenced and quoted writer, Schwiebert has over twelve references in Arnold Gingrich's book ''The Fishing in Print'' and fourteen references in Paul Schullery's ''American Fly Fishing, A History''. Gingrich considered Schwiebert's position impregnable as the leading angling author of our time and that he had an impressive ability to absorb entomological detail and convert it into pleasing prose for his readers.

Awards

His numerous awards and honors included the Gold Medal of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

, The Arnold Gingrich Literary Prize (1978 Federation of Flyfishers), the Aldo Starker Leopold Memorial Award (1994 International Wild Trout Symposium), and life memberships with the Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, Federation of Flyfishers, and The Anglers' Club of New York. He was a member of the Henryville Flyfishers, the Spring Ridge Club, and many other anglers clubs.

Works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwiebert, Ernest 1931 births 2005 deaths Angling writers Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture alumni Princeton University alumni Fly fishing 20th-century American male writers