Mike Fastoso had been coming to Grand Lake Stream for many years with his friends, “The Stalwarts.” They have their own chapter in, “Where Cool Waters Flow: Four Seasons with a Master Maine Guide.” They receive further mention in a new book I’ve written, at the publisher’s now. Mike always sat amidships, right in front of me, close and personal. We laughed and raked through the coals of the previous year together, occasionally interrupted by a salmon reporting from his rod tip. Mike arrived this May wearing a device that mainlined medicine to his lungs for his pulmonary hypertension. He was somewhat weakened, but we found a hand-carved cane among the relics of my guiding and outfitting camp which helped prop him up to negotiate the uneven terrain. On one of his final days, he hooked up with this fine salmon which he was happy to hold high for a photo. The news came within a couple weeks of his departure: Mike had succumbed in a Boston hospital. My consolation is that I know something for sure that others may not know. At the end of his life, Mike found a peace and a truth and a meaning that was going to be enough to tide him over. I’m carrying that meaning with me now, and I wish the same to all his friends and loved ones.
