"Trout Farming in the People's Republic of Boulder" comes to Niwot

Inkberry Books in Niwot's Cottonwood Square shopping center hosted local author Peggy Cline Friday, Oct. 25, who read excerpts from her recently published book, "Trout Farming in the People's Republic of Boulder."

Cline and her late husband Steve had a trout farm on the edge of Boulder, off of Valmont Road near 55th Street on the edge of Boulder. The book is a tribute to Steve Cline and the memorable moments they created in the foothills of Boulder.

That wasn't the only trout farm the Cline family owned. At one time, they owned the fish hatchery at Valmont Road and Folsom Street in Boulder, as well as fish hatcheries in Broadwater and Valentine, Nebraska.

Cline admitted that the title of her book, "Trout Farming in the People's Republic of Boulder," evoked a reference to Richard Brautigan's iconic book, "Trout Fishing in America," which wasn't about trout fishing at all.

Like Brautigan's book, Cline's book is about much more than trout.

Though Cline's collection of short stories includes her family's experiences raising, transporting and delivering trout to stock private ponds of wealthy individuals or resorts in Colorado and New Mexico, the book includes descriptions of sometimes humorous, sometimes touching, interactions with the fish and the people who bought them.

She began by reading the very first story in the book, titled "Sapillo, New Mexico."

"One of the privileges of owning a trout farm was that of our journeys into amazingly beautiful places that most people were never allowed to see," Cline said.

"Back in the days before New Mexico closed its borders to Colorado fish for fear of whirling disease, gill disease, ick, fluky livers, reduced slime, and maybe the heartbreak of psoriasis, Sapillo, New Mexico, was a memorable trout delivery."

She also read from "Trout Delivery From Nebraska," including a four-year-old's description of how the fish breathe. Other stories include her experiences over 30-plus years as a teacher and coach at Frederick, Colorado.

Cline ended her reading with an excerpt from "Teenage Girls Turned Loose," about the exploits of two 15-year-old girls growing up near Briggsdale, Colorado, placing a lizard in the bed of a cute older guy, leaving the audience in suspense as to the ultimate result.