Times Colonist and Daily Colonist writer Alec Merriman, known for his reporting on the outdoors, has died at 96.
“He wrote an outdoors column, he edited the Islander magazine for years,” said son-in-law Stew Lang, also a former Times Colonist employee.
Merriman’s career also included running the King Fisherman Contest, an Island-wide fishing competition. His father, Tom, preceded him into the newspaper business as a reporter for the Victoria Times, while he and Lang overlapped for a few years at the Times Colonist.
Merriman rubbed shoulders with some big names in the course of his work. “He took various people out fishing during his time as an outdoors writer, including Prince Andrew, John Diefenbaker and Clyde Beatty,” said Lang, referring to royalty, a prime minister and a circus legend.
Merriman’s writing earned him a place in the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. The hall’s report on Merriman notes that he grew up in Fairfield, where he spent time at Gonzales Beach.
The hall said he had an interest in fishing that led him to go after salmon or use a handmade spear to try for rock fish.
“Merriman helped create legacies by successfully lobbying for the creation of provincial parks on the Island, and through publication of seven road-trip and back-country recreation books,” the hall said.
In all, he spent 31 1/2 years in newspapers. Much of his adult life was spent at Langford Lake, where he bought property in 1946. “He bought the place after getting back from the Second World War with his war bride, Taffy,” Lang said.
Merriman enjoyed a large extended family, including eight great-grandchildren.
“He did a lot to open up the back roads on Vancouver Island,” Lang said. “It’s largely why he was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame.”
Part of that effort was helping to get forestry companies to allow the public to use their land. In addition, he expressed pride in being part of a push that gave sports fishermen recognition for their contributions to B.C.’s economy.
When he retired in 1985, Merriman told the Times Colonist that he planned to spend time on lakes and rivers around the Island.
“We’re going to go camping and fishing, but now we plan to stay in one place and let the grass grow around the wheels of our motorhome.”
He said he started writing outdoor columns in 1960 and was producing six columns a week.
“We would find a good place to fish and get the story, then sit in the campground with a portable typewriter to type the story. Then we would pack up the camp, go to the nearest telegraph office, send the story to the paper and move on to the next place.”
Merriman said he enjoyed hearing from people who had read his work.
“My best times were when I got calls from people who had followed my columns and fished in the places and the way I suggested, and who were happy that they had caught some fish.”
Merriman’s funeral service has not been set.
