S. Kip Farrington
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Selwyn Kip Farrington, Jr. (May 7, 1904 – February 7, 1983) was an American writer and sport fisherman. As a journalist he did much to popularize big game fishing from the 1930s onward, and set a number of records himself. In addition to fishing, he was a noted
rail enthusiast A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rail ...
. Farrington wrote and published twenty-four books covering such diverse topics as fishing, railroading, and amateur
hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
.


Biography

Farrington was born in
Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000. Orange was original ...
. His father was a
stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...
; Farrington joined the family firm at the age of 16 and seemed destined to follow in his father's footsteps until a move out to East Hampton on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
in the 1920s awakened an interest in
big-game fishing Big-game fishing, also known as offshore sportfishing, offshore gamefishing or blue-water fishing, is a form of recreational fishing targeting large game fish, usually done on a large body of water such as the ocean. History Big-game fishing st ...
. Farrington became a recognized figure in the sportfishing community. He served as fishing editor of ''
Field & Stream ''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American online magazine focusing on hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. The magazine was a print publication between 1895 and 2015 and became an online-only publication from 2020. History ...
'' from 1937 to 1972 and counted the American writer
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
, another avid fisherman, among his friends. His largest catch came in 1952, when he caught a
Atlantic blue marlin The Atlantic blue marlin (''Makaira nigricans'') is a species of marlin endemic to the Atlantic Ocean. It is closely related to, and usually considered conspecific with, the Indo-Pacific blue marlin, then simply called blue marlin. Some authori ...
off Cabo Blanco, a record for the time. He was the first to catch a blue marlin off
Bimini Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately west-northwest of Nassau. The populat ...
and the second, after Hemingway, to catch an
Atlantic bluefin tuna The Atlantic bluefin tuna (''Thunnus thynnus'') is a species of tuna in the family Scombridae. It is variously known as the northern bluefin tuna (mainly when including Pacific bluefin as a subspecies), giant bluefin tuna or individuals exceed ...
there. Farrington's other great love was
rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
. Over the course of his life Farrington rode trains in 39 countries, amassing thousands of miles. Farrington wrote ten books on the railroad history, "with an emphasis...on what was new in railroading." The American historian John H. White Jr. called Farrington a "skilled writer." Farrington married Sara Houston Chisholm, who became an accomplished angler in her own right, in East Hampton in 1934. Farrington lived in East Hampton until his death in 1983.


Selected works

* ''Atlantic game fishing'' (1937) * ''Pacific game fishing'' (1942) * ''Bill, the broadbill swordfish'' (1942) * ''Railroading from the head end'' (1943) * ''Railroads at war'' (1944) * ''Giants of the rails'' (1944) * ''Interesting birds of our country'' (1945) * ''Ducks came back, the story of Ducks unlimited'' (1945) * ''Railroading from the rear end'' (1946) * ''Book of fishes'' (1946) * ''Ships of the U.S. Merchant Marine'' (1947) * ''Fishing the Atlantic, offshore and on'' (1949) * ''Sport fishing boats'' (1949) * ''Railroads of today'' (1949) * ''Railroading the modern way'' (1951) * ''Fishing the Pacific, offshore and on'' (1953) * ''Railroading around the world'' (1955) * ''Railroads of the hour'' (1958) * ''Fishing with Hemingway and Glassell'' (1971) * ''Skates, sticks, and men; the story of amateur hockey in the United States'' (1971) * ''Santa Fe's big three; the life story of a trio of the world's greatest locomotives'' (1972) * ''Trail of the Sharp Cup; the story of the fifth oldest trophy in international sports'' (1974) * ''Railroading coast to coast : riding the locomotive cabs, steam, electric and diesel, 1923-1950'' (1976) * ''Labrador retriever, friend and worker'' (1976)


References


External links


S. Kip Farrington on Archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrington, Selwyn 1904 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers American fishers American male journalists 20th-century American journalists Angling writers People from Orange, New Jersey Rail transport writers 20th-century American male writers Historians from New Jersey