Michael Lerner (angler)

Michael Lerner (born September 5, 1890 - April 16, 1978)[1] was an American angler and businessman.[2]

Michael Lerner
Born(1890-09-05)September 5, 1890
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedApril 16, 1978(1978-04-16) (aged 87)
Miami, Florida
Known forPioneer of big game angling
SpouseHelen

Early life

He was born in Philadelphia and was one of seven children of Sophie (née Eisenberg) and Charles Lerner.[3]

Career

Along with his father and brothers, he founded Lerner Shops (now New York & Company), a national chain of women's clothing shops.

He left the retail chain in the early 1930s and devoted his life to big game hunting, fishing and marine research. His fishing and hunting adventures were chronicled in the New York Times throughout the 1930s and 1940s.[4][5] In 1935, he pioneered the rod-and-reel fishery for giant tuna in Wedgeport, Nova Scotia. He managed to convince Captain Évée LeBlanc to take him fishing and accompanied by his guide, Tommy Gifford, he managed to catch five Bluefin during his first visit.[3] He returned to Wedgeport in September 1935 and caught 21 tuna in the course of 11 days, varying in size from 86 to 450 pounds.[6] He founded and funded the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in 1939.[4] He founded the American Museum of Natural History's Lerner Marine Laboratory on Bimini in The Bahamas.[7] He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Miami, and was awarded the first Gold Medal Angler's Award by the International Oceanographic Foundation for being the "sport fisherman who has accomplished the most for marine science."[2]

Death

He died of cancer at his home in Miami on April 16, 1978.[8]

Legacy

Lerner is commemorated in the scientific name of a subspecies of lizard, Anolis smaragdinus lerneri,[7] which is endemic to The Bahamas.[9]

References
  1. Michael Lerner Florida Death Index Familysearch.org
  2. IGFA | Michael Lerner Archived 2016-02-16 at the Wayback Machine IGFA.org
  3. Tuna: A Love Story by Richard Ellis - Page 111
  4. Keys to Cuba Kyaniteacresllc.com
  5. "About the Wedgeport Tuna Museum". Archived from the original on 2017-05-11. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  6. Thomas Gifford, Anglers and Muscleheads (New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc., 1960)
  7. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Lerner", pp. 155-156).
  8. Toledo Blade - April 19, 1978, Page 12
  9. Species Anolis smaragdinus at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
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