Michael Wayne Fong

FONG, MICHAEL
WAYNE
Born April 26, 1939 in Sacramento, CA to Yee Sel Kahe and Fong Dor Foo, died of a brain aneurysm on Friday, June 14, 2002. He was 63. After receiving his BA from the Calif. College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, CA, he gained his MFA from the Univ. of Iowa in Iowa City. He married Christine Hanson in 1963. He returned to San Francisco, CA to work at Ray Advertising, then apprenticed in Lithography at Gregory and Faulk. He became night foreman and worked there and was a member of the Graphic Arts Union for 26 years. With Christine, his wife, they traveled and fly fished throughout the U.S., Baja Calif., Canada, Alaska, Central America, the Bahamas, New Zealand, Cuba and Norway. Michael, Christine, and Corinna, their daughter, enjoyed numerous trips throughout the western U.S. over a period of 15 years. In 1967 he sold his first article to "Outdoor Life" with photography by Christine and has since been published in numerous outdoor periodicals and books on fly fishing and related subjects. He was the editor of the Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF), "FlyFisher" magazine from 1977 to 1982. He was also a life member of the FFF. He also supported California Trout, Trout Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy, the California Sport Fishing Protection Alliance and Friends of the River. He was a member of the Palo Alto Fly Fishers and the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. Michael and Christine received the "Ross Allen Merigold Complete Angler Memorial Award" in 1996 given by the Pasadena Casting Club of CA. Michael was on the editorial staff of "Angler" magazine and a contributing editor to "Fly Fisherman" magazine. He was a featured speaker at the International Sportsman Expositions held throughout the West for twenty years. Michael, along with Christine, began publishing "The Inside Angler" in 1992, a critical, subscription-based destination-oriented newsletter that thrived for ten years. A book based on information from the "The Inside Angler" will soon be published. He is survived by Christine, his wife of 39 years; Corinna Fong, his daughter; and Richard Dudzinski, his son-in-law; sisters, Mary Leong, Dolores Chew and Patricia Woo, all of Sacramento and Roberta Pattee, of San Mateo. Brothers, Joe Fong and Robert Fong; brothers-in-law and sister-in-law, Richard Leong, Ken Woo and Faye Fong, also of Sacramento and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins residing in the Bay Area, Sacramento, L.A., Hawaii & No. Calif. A Memorial service is planned for family & friends on July 14. Invitations will be sent.