Ron P. Swegman (born August 12, 1967) is an American angler, artist, and author. His work includes the illustrated essay collections Philadelphia on the Fly: Tales of an Urban Angler (Frank Amato Publications, 2005) and Small Fry: The Lure of the Little: (The Whitefish Press, 2009). His writing primarily explores those times and places when and where nature and the city intersect.
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Swegman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Penn State where, as an undergraduate, he worked as a feature writer and Arts Editor for the university's newspaper, The Daily Collegian. A post-baccalaureate fellowhip at The Poynter Institute steered him toward incorporating illustrations into his writing projects. He settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, freelancing fiction, journalism, and poetry, some of which appeared in a variety of literary journals and independent zines during the 1990s. A broadside, museum of buildings: poems, was published in 1998. His first book, Philadelphia on the Fly (2005), introduced a new generation of American outdoor writing with a new set of interests and values: urban angling in the shadow of city skylines; mountain biking to regional fishing destinations; birding as a guide to the fish; and poetic prose writing to describe the practical "How To" strategies for luring fish to the artificial fly. His second, Small Fry: The Lure of the Little (2009), portrays these same themes on a broader geographical canvas. Swegman is a contributing writer to several publications, including Eastern Fly Fishing, The Flyfish Journal, and Pennsylvania Outdoor News. In 2010 he began an ongoing blog - "Wildflowers of the West Village" - documenting urban nature in New York City, where he has resided since 2009.[1]