Born in 1854, Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby went on to become an author and journalist particularly renowned for her fishing stories. Along with stimulating both the tourist industry (she coined the catchphrase “Maine, the Nation’s Playground”) and a love of outdoorsy pursuits in general, she became the state’s first officially licensed tour guide and a wilderness advocate to the end of her long life. Readers primed for specific anecdotes or yarns that would capture the flavor of her writing will have to look elsewhere, but Mealey does reel off the major events of her life in breezy prose laced with appreciative comments—and then closes with writing prompts and pointers for budding authors tempted to craft “fish stories” of their own. Rivers, some filled with colorful trout and other fish, flow through Michael’s illustrations of the smiling, confident-looking outdoorswoman casting a line or tossing back her catch (she was an early advocate of catch and release) and, indoors, either sitting at her writing desk or posing amid outdoor wear and gear at expositions. She and those around her are pale-skinned, but there is some racial diversity in closing scenes of modern hikers and museumgoers.
