Dave Burr,
Up to know Dave, you are the closest as to what Walker was, and that he certainly was our greatest ever freshwater angler and writer.
Certainly there were much better catchers of specific species of fish, if that's how you would rate great anglers, but not many. If you list all the disciplines of freshwater angling, few would come close to Walker, and that would be the same today, make no mistake.
Remember Walker was not a full time professional angler. He was no Matt Hayes, Terry Hearn, Des Taylor or Hywel Morgan. Walker worked a 9am to 6.00 pm 5 day week as technical director of a major grass cutting machinery manufacturer. The only time he had for fishing for most of his life was a few hours at weekends, maybe a couple of days on occasions, and odd evenings in summer.
These are the facts that make him our greatest angler!
If you study what he caught based on the time he had available, he was not only our greatest angler, he was also our most efficient.
As regards his writings, he was very fortunate in having a superb secretary who not only typed much of his stuff, but took dictation over the phone. Many of his weekly articles to AT were dictated and/or telexed.
Mention has been made of Peter Stone.
I was a close friend of Peter Stone ever since meeting him in Melton Mowbray in 1965. Peter, if he was alive today, would be the first to acknowledge Walker as the man who inspired himself to become what he did become, one of Britain's most loved and respected anglers.
One has only to read "The Stone - Walker Letters" to realise this.
