Jimmy Carter was a lot more than a president. He was a Sunday school teacher, a carpenter for Habitat for Humanity, a frequent visitor to McDonald’s and a Willie Nelson fan.
But as much as anything, he was a fisherman.
Carter and a small group of friends — including his wife, Rosalynn —traveled all over the United States and all over the world to fly-fish for trout, salmon, tarpon or whatever else was below the surface.
One of Carter’s friends was Carlton Hicks, an eye doctor from St. Simons Island on the Georgia coast, which happens to be where I come from.
Hicks and Carter told their fishing stories to author Jim Barger Jr., who compiled them into a new book called “Rivers and Dreams.”
Barger talked with me about how Carter used fishing as a tool for diplomacy, how he always seemed to end up catching the biggest fish, and how the former president and first lady used to squabble over Walmart.
