Guy de la valdene biography of williams

Guy de la Valdene, writer and filmmaker, passed away last week in his home outside Tallahassee.

Although we never met, his iconic footage of the Florida Keys backcountry in his 1973, Tarpon, made a deep and lasting impression.

In that film, Guy and brother-in-law Christian Odasso, cameraman, captured the youth and spirit of a generation of writers and artists who brushed against the Florida Keys in the late 60s—notably Tom McGuane, Richard Brautigan, Jimmy Buffet, and Jim Harrison.

No one could have known at the time that the magnificent fishery of tarpon, both migrating and nesting off Key West, was on the verge.

Tarpon is unique.

Guy de la valdene daughter

There is no other documentary record that captures the lush seagrass meadows that once carpeted so much of Florida Bay, a vast, one-of-a-kind wilderness. Guy’s film captured the drama of fly fishing tarpon, above and below the surface, at a special moment.

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