Lee Wulff
Lee Wulff (February 10, 1905 – April 28, 1991), born Henry Leon Wulff, was an artist, pilot, fly fisherman, author, filmmaker, outfitter and conservationist who made significant contributions to recreational fishing, especially fly fishing and the conservation of Atlantic Salmon.
Charles Wulff left Brooklyn around 1900 to seek gold in Alaska but soon became dependent on other work and settled in Valdez.
In Valdez, Lee's father was a deputy sheriff and newspaper publisher in the small frontier town.
Lee's mother was a Norwegian immigrant from Staten Island who eventually traveled to Valdez to marry Charles.
During the winter of 1915-16, Charles Wulff moved the family back to Brooklyn to assume management of his deceased grandfather's coal business.
[1] In 1920, Charles Wulff sold his interest in the Brooklyn coal company and moved the family to San Diego, California.
He attended two years at San Diego State College before transferring to Stanford University to study engineering.
Despite pressure from his father to pursue engineering work, on September 13, 1927, Lee Wulff left Paris to return to New York and start a career as an artist.
[2] Lee Wulff arrived in New York on September 25, 1927, and found lodgings in Greenwich Village where most young artists lived at the time.
Sustained with a few part-time jobs through the winter of 1927, he finally obtained regular employment with an advertising agency in January 1928 at a salary of $50 per week.
Lee was making acquaintances with future notables in the fly angling and outdoor business world–John McDonald, Fortune Magazine writer and author of Quill Gordon, illustrators Mead Schaeffer and John Atherton[5] and artist Norman Rockwell.
Lee Wulff's first visit to Newfoundland came in 1935 when he fished for salmon on the Grand Codroy River northeast of Channel-Port aux Basques.
Lee Wulff and Ella Manuel were married in Corner Brook in 1947, shortly after he obtained his pilot's license.
Lee Wulff is credited with being one of the first people to suggest the establishment of what eventually became Gros Morne National Park.
[9] Lee and Joan Wulff moved their home from New Hampshire to Lew Beach, New York, on the Beaverkill river in 1978.
"[10] In 1930, Lee Wulff designed three innovative dry flies to fish with on the Esopus and other Catskill rivers.
[13] Angler and writer John Gierach believes the Royal Wulff is one of the most popular dry patterns over the last half century.
[14] Lee Wulff died on April 28, 1991, near Hancock, New York, when the Piper Super Cub he was piloting crashed into trees at the end of the runway during a landing.
"Obituaries in The New York Times,[16] The Guardian and other major newspapers leveled nothing but praise on Lee Wulff and his life and career.
