75-летний рыболов Алан Ард стал легендой Питтсбурга, подписывая книги для туристов под именем «Старик с Лопстика»

He’s not as legendary as New Hampshire’s famed Old Man of the Mountain, but Alan Ard is making quite a name for himself as the “Old Man at Lopstick.” It’s a title the 75-year-old avid fly fisherman made up while having a little fun working his dream retirement gig at Lopstick Fly Shop in Pittsburg – New Hampshire’s northernmost town. Ard is the friendly sales rep and resident fly fishing expert at the fly shop who always enjoys meeting new customers and having a good chat about fishing and life in the Great North Woods. When he sold copies of the book titled, “The Orvis Guide to Beginning Fly Fishing,” Ard decided to add a personal touch by signing them. “I started doing it a few years ago, just kind of like to give someone a souvenir,” he said. While Ard said he’s working on a book about Pittsburg, he’s quick to point out that he’s not the author of the one he’s signing, but that doesn’t matter to his customers who are delighted to get a book with his personalized inscription. “All I do is say to them, ‘I can make this special for you,’” he tells them. He writes the date, the person’s name, and then includes the following message: “Enjoy your time in Pittsburg. May the weather be good and the fishing better. Tight lines from the Old Man at Lopstick.” Ard’s signed copies have gone home with visitors from more than 30 states and others from around the world, including Scotland, England and Ireland. “I hand it to them and I say, ‘There’s not another one like it in the world, and when I’m gone it’ll be worth more money,” he said with a laugh. This is the simple life Ard longed for when the retired Air Force veteran decided to retire and head to the North Country 13 years ago after working 50-plus hours a week in the concrete business while living in southern New Hampshire. He bought a camp in Pittsburg in 1989 and has been fly fishing there ever since. Ard always knew that’s where he would spend his days when it came time to retire. “The older you get in life and you look back on everything, raising kids and going through all that, you don’t give a darn. You don’t care if you embarrass yourself or if something doesn’t go right. You learn to say, ‘Hey, I’m in Pittsburg. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it isn’t life and death. You know, this is not the emergency room, this is a fly shop,” he said. Ard grew up in Hampstead, raised his family in Kingston, and was a staff sergeant who served as a flight medic with the New Hampshire Air National Guard’s 157th air medical evacuation unit from 1970 to 1976. For him, Pittsburg offers a serene, scenic retreat with world-class fly fishing, a welcoming community, and a chance to take it easy. “As soon as we bought property, we said this is a good place. You’re still in the state, you can still get everything you need. Berlin, Littleton, Colebrook have everything you need, but it takes the right personality, the right lifestyle. I refer to it as life in the slow lane,” he said. Whenever he sees a frazzled and overworked visitor who’s just arrived in town and trying to settle down, Ard said it usually takes a day or two for them to unwind. He tells them, “Don’t worry, you’re in Pittsburg. Don’t worry about it. It’ll be OK.” But most of the folks he encounters at the fly shop are in a good mood. “They’re here on vacation. They’re having fun, and if they catch fish, they’re in a better mood,” he said. After retiring in Pittsburg, Ard said one of the best decisions he made was volunteering to coach youth baseball in town. He was approached by his electrician, who was a coach, while he was building his house 13 years ago. “I volunteered to do that for four years and it was the best thing I could have done because I got to meet the local kids, the local parents. … It was a great experience. The kids are great. I still have kids come up to me in a restaurant and say, ‘Hi coach,’ and I don’t even know who they are. It’s been eight years, but they remember,” he said. The experience helped him become part of the community he had chosen to call home. Fly fishing, however, remains at the center of Ard’s life. For him, the sport is about far more than catching fish. “What I find is if you step into a river, it’s different than being in a canoe or a boat. You don’t get the same feeling that you get standing in a river. You’ll get the rhythm of the river. You’ll feel it in your legs and you’ll actually be almost mesmerized so you can lose track of time and then you kind of feel like part of nature and part of the environment,” he said. That connection to nature is what keeps him returning to the water. “Even if you don’t catch fish, you’re into the element, you’re into nature, you’re into something you don’t experience all the time. When they finally get into it good enough to be successful and get out into nature in their favorite spots where no one’s around, and then a moose walks by you or an eagle flies over your head … now this is special. Then you learn to relax, too,” he said. Over the years, he said, Pittsburg itself has changed very little, but one notable exception has been the arrival of reliable cell service. “You couldn’t use a cell phone up here five years ago. I’d never see a person on the river talking on a phone. Now I see people talk,” he said. While better cell coverage has enhanced safety, it’s also brought reminders of the outside world into a place where people are supposed to disconnect. “I knew it was a change because I got some guy talking on the phone across the river from me, and that’s where we’re supposed to be in peace and quiet and getting away from technology,” he said. Still, Ard acknowledges that the technology has become more important as he’s aged. “As I got older, my sons were worried because I’d go off into the woods deer hunting by myself and hike in the woods, fly fishing. If I fall and go down in the river or whatever, I’m toast,” he said. Despite the changes technology has brought, Ard remains committed to the simple life he found when he retired in Pittsburg and he shares his insight with any visitor who will listen. “Whether they fly fish or not, they might want to be just going out and looking at moose or traveling the roads, it’s still life in the slow lane,” he said.