Michael Lerner (born September 5, 1890 - April 16, 1978) was an American angler and businessman.IGFA , Michael Lerner
IGFA.org

Early life

He was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and was one of seven children of Sophie (''née'' Eisenberg) and Charles Lerner.Tuna: A Love Story by Richard Ellis - Page 111

Career

Along with his father and brothers, he founded Lerner Shops (now

New York & Company New York & Company, Inc. (NY&C) is an American workwear retailer for women. New York & Company apparel and accessories are sold through a nationwide network of retail stores, and through its e-commerce site. New York & Company was founded ...

), a national chain of women's clothing shops. He left the retail chain in the early 1930s and devoted his life to big game hunting, fishing and marine research. His fishing and hunting adventures were chronicled in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In 1935, he pioneered the rod-and-reel fishery for giant tuna in Wedgeport, Nova Scotia. He managed to convince Captain Évée LeBlanc to take him fishing and accompanied by his guide, Tommy Gifford, he managed to catch five

Bluefin Bluefin or Blue Fin and variants may refer to: Fish * Bluefin tuna, multiple species of tuna * Bluefin damsel (''Neoglyphidodon melas''), damselfish * Bluefin driftfish (''Psenes pellucidus'') * Bluefin gurnard (''Chelidonichthys kumu''), fish in t ...

during his first visit. He returned to Wedgeport in September 1935 and caught 21 tuna in the course of 11 days, varying in size from 86 to 450 pounds. He founded and funded the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in 1939.Keys to Cuba
Kyaniteacresllc.com He founded the American Museum of Natural History's Lerner Marine Laboratory on

Bimini Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately west-northwest of Nassau. The popula ...

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the arc ...

.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Lerner", pp. 155-156). He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

, and was awarded the first Gold Medal Angler's Award by the International Oceanographic Foundation for being the "sport fisherman who has accomplished the most for marine science."

Death

He died of cancer at his home in Miami on April 16, 1978.

Legacy

Lerner is commemorated in the scientific name of a subspecies of lizard, '' Anolis smaragdinus lerneri'', which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to The Bahamas.. www.reptile-database.org.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerner, Michael 1890 births 1978 deaths American fishers