James Prosek Visits Orion

James Prosek, whose art and writing we published in “The Failure of Names” in our March-April 2008 issue, joined the staff for lunch at 187 Main recently. James talked about his ten-year project to write a book about eels, which has taken him around the world. The book is scheduled to be published by HarperCollins in mid-2010; we’ll be printing an adaptation before then. James is something of a wunderkind in the world of arts. He published his first book of paintings when he was 19. A dozen years later he has multiple books under his belt, a thriving career as an artist, and he even won a Peabody Award for his 2003 documentary about traveling in the footsteps of Isaac Walton across England. Along with Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, James co-founded World Trout, which has raised more than $350,000 for conservation through the sale of trout-themed T-shirts sporting James’s paintings. It was great to have him in the office — and out of it; Hal and Jason felt obliged to take him trout fishing after lunch.