Join the former president as he recalls some of his favorite fish tales: stories of fishing with world leaders, how he used fishing as a diplomatic tool, stories of his time as President of the Izaac Walton League, a few favorite fishing jokes and tales of the one that didn’t get away.
From his boyhood fishing in West Branch, Iowa, to his retirement and marlin fishing in Florida, Herbert Hoover will always be known as our "Fishing President" and long remembered as one of the best former presidents in American history and an advisor to every president from Truman to Kennedy.
Hoover also saved 26 million lives during World War I and was then called back to serve in the rebuilding of Europe during World War II. Late in life, Hoover published a book based on a series of articles he wrote for Field and Stream and other popular magazines, Fishing for Fun and to Cleanse the Soul. This performance is an expansion of this book.
Brian "Fox" Ellis is an internationally acclaimed author, storyteller, historian and naturalist. He has worked with The Denver Museum of Science and Nature, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, The Field Museum and dozens of other museums across the country.
He is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences, including the International Wetlands Conservation Conference, National Science Teachers Association Conference and the North American Prairie Conservation Conference, et al.
Ellis has hosted, produced, researched and written several documentaries for PBS. He is the author of more than 30 books, including three books of poetry, a series of biographies, History in Person and a series of collections of folklore, Fox Tales Folklore. He has two collections of stories with lesson plans: Learning from the Land: Teaching Ecology through Stories and Activities, and Content Area Reading, Writing and Storytelling.
Many of his stories are also available on his podcast and YouTube channels. Currently, he is the Director of Outreach & Membership for the Illinois Audubon Society, where he edits their quarterly magazine.
