The Story of Plover
In Remembrance of Brian Doyle
Originally published in The Drake Magazine
In fall of 2016, I was browsing in my local bookstore when I saw a poster advertising upcoming author events. I was beyond excited when I read that David James Duncan, author of The River Why, My Story as Told by Water, and The Brothers K, among others, would soon be visiting. Like many, Duncan’s novels and essays had resonated deeply with me. The River Why bookended an extended fishing holiday of mine years ago, and I imagined myself in the place of Gus, the main character.
I recall starting to read the book in a hostel in Christchurch, New Zealand. Through Gus, Duncan wrote, “The once-monthly fisherman adores his rare day on the water, imagining that ten times the trips would yield ten times the pleasure. But I have lived the gallant fisher’s life, and I learned that not fishing is crucial to the enjoyment of fishing; fishing is a good thing, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing.” These were sobering lines for a young man to absorb while setting off on several months of dedicated, solo angling travel.
Joining Duncan at the event was author, Brian Doyle, who I didn’t know, but was about to like. Doyle opened the readings, and I immediately marveled at him - he was loud, energetic, sincere, hilarious, and wasn’t hesitant to curse. The words that Doyle and Duncan shared that evening were as good as any I can remember, and afterward I got a chance to meet them and chat. Per encouragement from friends, I wore sandals to show Duncan my River Why questions mark-hook tattoo on my foot. Duncan laughed and considered drawing a foot around the version on the inside of the book. I bought a hard-to-find Duncan book and one of Doyle’s novels, Mink River. He signed it, “with laughter and prayers.”
A few weeks later, flying back home from Thanksgiving with family, I started Mink River and ate it up. When I landed, an eerily coincidental email was waiting from a coworker who had attended the readings with me. The subject line read, “Brian Doyle”, and it shared the news that Brian had recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Six months later, May 27, 2017, he was gone.
