Top Secret Covert Black Ops

[Jerry Andrews]

Fantastic cartoon! Charlie Kroll ( he wrote Pools of Memory and Squaretails ) was Fred Bear's son in law, and a very dear friend of mine. I have many of Fred Bear's personal items Charlie sent me through the years. I have both of Fred's Hardy reels along with a lot of other really neat items. Charlie and Fred were close friends of John's. John actually bailed Fred out financially at least once. Charlie was 87, had cancer 5 times, was not doing too well and decided to cash in his chips so he put it. I still have the letter he wrote me the day he took his own life. It sends chills up my spine every time I read it. I had so many good times with Charlie. He was a lot of fun and turned me on to the Cooke City area of Montana. In his books Pools of Memory I read about his trip there in 1950. He suggested I look up Bill Summers in Cooke City for a guided trip. I reminded Charlie it was 1950 and Summers may not be around. He called me a young smart axe and told me to call him when I got there. I did, and darned if Summers wasn't not only around, but spry as a young rooster at 70! He remembered taking Kroll up in the Bear Tooth range, they couldn't get Charlie to leave! Jerry