Harrison Ross Steeves III

   Born July 2nd, 1937 in Birmingham, Alabama Harrison Steeves was taught
flyfishing and tying by his father.  For nearly a half century he has
pursued his quary, the trout, in both the Eastern and Western parts of the
U.S.  

   With early guidance from his father he started tying and then on his own
he developed his skills and a personal style of tying. He creates
impressionistic flies using whatever techniques necessary and incorporating
both natural and synthetic materials.  He makes good use of new materials
such as Kreinik metallic braid to enhance the sparkle and attractions of
his designs. His favorite patterns are terrestrials.  Along with Ed Koch he
authored the flytying book "Terrestrials" in 1995.  His talents have been
demonstrated at many flyfishing shows: The International Flytying
Symposium, 1995; and others in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  One of his
favored creations is the Fire Fly

   Some sense of Harrison Steeves can be gained from the interactions he
has with his collegues at Virginia Tech in Blacksbury Virginia.  Steve
Hiner, a fellow professor and frequent target of Harrison notes the
following.

   "Harry began fly fishing and tying with his late father at age 12. 
Growing up in Alabama, he was reared on the "ways of a southern gentleman". 
I've known Harry for many years and his companionship is most rewarding,
not necessarily on the trout stream, but on the "road trips" to and from
the waters.  The stories abound, and quite often I feel the need to remain
in my neoprenes the entire trip.  Remember, Harry was present on a college
campus during the height of "free love - free everthing" and I only caught
the end of this era, so his stories, with what I know to be be filled with
megadoses of embellishments, fascinate the hell out of me.  Harry is what
many of us would call a "trip", "good egg", or a "hoot".
   Harry is meticulous about his fly fishing equipment and anytime there is
an opportunity to "screw around" with his "stuff",  all of the local FF
tribe will take advantage.  We were holding a FF class here on campus and
several of us brought rods, reels, and lines for the students to try. 
Harry has all his reels set for left hand retrieve,  so a friend and I took
it upon ourselves to strip the line from his reels and convert them to
right hand.  It was our feeling that he would discover the foul play the
next fishing trip and be forced to deal with it on-stream.   This was not
the case.  Shortly after arriving home after the class I received a call
from Harry accusing me of the prank.  Like any good angler, I lied.  Then
we were all relegated to hell.  Approximately 6 months later I discovered a
feminine perfume odor coming form my fly boxes that I carry in my chest
pack.  I consulted my wife and she conferred the smell with a laugh.  I
then relegated all my FF buddies to hell, including Harry.  The smell grew
stronger over the next few months until the day I discovered an air
freshener so strategically placed in the bowels of my pack.  Harry later
fessed up and said we were even, but we will never be even.  After this
incident I harbored a 1000 plus adult fruit flies in a piece of small
plastic tubing and at Harry's absence, I blew the tiny critters under his
office door.  I have not heard a word but I'm expecting anything.  He is a
master practical joker, a friend, a "hoot", a "good egg", and the best fly
angler I know."  
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This biography was writen by Steve Hiner and edited by L. Grandison. 
Please forward any corrections or additional material to L. Grandison at
grandiso@umdnj.edu.  Reuse of this written account is authorized as long as
acknowledgement of origin is made.
-- 
Lindsey Grandison                Internet: grandiso@umdnj.edu
Physiology & Biophysics                    Voice: (908) 235-4603
UMDNJ, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School  FAX:   (908) 235-5038    
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Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-5635