I first met Frank Moore at his Oregon home, while steelheading on the North Umpqua River a couple of years back. As we went in for introductions, the harmless looking old-timer proceeded to grip and shake my puny hand with the crushing power of a gorilla. To say Moore is tough, is an understatement. As a WWII vet, in 1944 he joined some 150,000 Allied troops to storm the beaches at Normandy. As an ardent steward of steelhead rivers, he’s worked as a guide, is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, and built a legacy in the form of the legendary Steamboat Inn on the banks of the North Umpqua.
Moore’s story is no doubt inspiring. And it’s one filmmakers at Uncage the Soul are hoping to bring to light, with the documentary Frank Moore: Mending the Line.
The film “…aims to follow his return to France to fish the rivers he crossed as a 21-year-old soldier during the war. There are few veterans in as good health as Frank; far fewer who have the courage and ability to travel back to France to see the war grounds of their past. In May 2013, the Uncage the Soul Production team will travel to France with Frank and his wife of 70 years, Jeanne, traversing the rivers and World War II landmarks of Normandy. The production team will shadow Frank’s journey, capturing the raw emotion and experience of a lifetime to be found in Frank closing this book he began writing on June 6, 1944.”
“With your support, we can all show our appreciation to this venerable veteran and others like him by making this dream of his a reality, documenting not only his lifetime of accomplishments, but also the beauty that lies in the world of fly fishing, allowing a man to confront his past and embrace his passion in a place that he once helped to free.”
Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.