Walter & Group........
From Troy Miller (On good testing technique) :-
Gordy,
I will vouch for Tom’s testing technique. I’ve told this story before, so you may have heard this before. When I tested back in (what?) 1995 I think, it was the first time the test had been given in Alaska. I had been teaching or helping teach casting classes for the Alaska Fly Fishers (Anchorage club) since 1989, and during the “Great Alaska Sportsmen’s Show”, he and Tony Weaver (a new MCI at the time) came up to me on the casting pond where I was trying out some new rods that manufacturer reps were demoing. I was also helping a couple of the guys from the club “fix their cast” there on the pond.
Tom told me I had a nice looking cast and wondered if I had interest in getting certified with FFF as a casting instructor. My first reaction was, nahhhh, what do I need that for? But I thought about it a little and thought it might be a good credential for whenever I finally finished my book and went to a publisher.
11 of us went in a back room and took the written test. 3 of us passed. Since it was near the end of the show, Tom took us back to the pond and tested us on the practical with the understanding that Tony would give us a more thorough test in the next few days (Tom was flying out that night late). While testing me, Tom asked me to just cast first. He smiled and watched and nodded approvingly. Made me feel VERY comfortable, as though he was enjoying watching me cast. Then he asked me to perform a number of specific casts, some of which I knew by name and some that I didn’t. He very calmly explained what the cast looked like, and let me do it. Apparently I did them OK, because again he stood and smiled and nodded approvingly. Finally he pretended to be a student and made some bad casts that he wanted me to analyze and help fix. He played with me a bit, made it fun, but I helped him improve his casts and he went on to fame and fortune, as you know.
There was never a time during the test that I felt nervous, intimidated, or unqualified. And I attribute that to the way Tom tested me, NOT because of how well-prepared I was. It wasn’t that his testing was easy, but that he kept me enough at ease that I could perform my best.
I’ll always appreciate Tom for that, and will miss him always.
Regards -- TAM
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Thanks, Troy. We all miss Tom for more reasons than I can count.
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