Looking for a Fish Named God

When I was in sixth grade my teacher would read to the class every day after lunch.  I don't know how long he would read.  Maybe a half hour, maybe more.  I can still remember some of what we heard: Oliver Twist, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Huckleberry Finn, and short stories from Poe, Harte, Twain, and many others.

When I think about these books and stories, I consider myself fortunate to have been exposed to some classic but controversial works.  What sixth grader today reads, or even hears, The Lottery?  Many things we heard have faded from my memory, but I can still hear Mr. De Young's voice painting pictures of Simon Legree, Calaveras County, the mean streets of London, or a murder mystery in Paris.

Which brings me to the title of this post.  For some reason, I find myself looking for a fish named God.  This may sound strange, but Mr. De Young is back in my head, 40 years later, reading a short story about a wise old trout, so elusive that the author has named him God.

Suddenly, for the past week, I'm remembering parts of this story vividly.  I have no idea why this is coming back to me.  I remember Mr. De Young describing the the community reaction to the use of God's name for a fish.  Apparently this was edgy stuff in the early 1970s.  I don't think I was all that upset at the time.  I was hooked by the awe, amazement, energy, and visual imagery of the story.

I can't remember much about the story, but for some reason, and I don't fish much any more, I've got a fish named God stuck in my head.  A simple internet search should help, but I'm striking out.  There doesn't seem to be anything I can (easily) find about this fish story.  I don't know the author, and I can't remember what happens at the end.  I have trolled the internet looking for this story, but I'm getting skunked.  (Wow, two bad fishing puns on one sentence.  Sorry!)

Does anyone know anything about this story?  Can anyone help me find this fish?

Music

I listen to music all the time in my office at work.  I buy used CDs at thrift stores, online, and at stores.  My iPod has over 65 GB of music packed inside.  Plus, I make sure to listen to everything in my music library.

Every week I sync (synch?) my iPod to my iTunes library, then check for anything in my library that I haven't listened to yet.  That gets moved to my "Unplayed" playlist, and I start shuffling that list on Monday morning at work.

This week my unplayed list had 119 songs.  I got done listening to them about 6 this evening.  I worked until 9.  After going through the list, I went to one of my new CDs that I had really liked, and listened to it the rest of the time I was in my office.

That CD is "Love and Theft" by Bob Dylan.  I really like Dylan, but I don't know much about his music.  I know he's been a significant influence in American folk and rock music for as long as I have been alive, but I'm not full of Dylan trivia.  Until I found "Love and Theft" at a Salvation Army store last week, I had never heard of this album.  It might be a throwaway, contractual obligation, or one of his "worst" albums, something that was a commercial bomb that critics hate.

Doesn't matter.  I was mesmerized by the bluesy sounds of the songs.  The lyrics of "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum" teased me.  I didn't hear Dylan's usual nasal twang, it was deeper and huskier.

I think this means I need to dig up more Dylan music.