Meet Edwin P. Nicholson – Founder of Healing Waters Fly Fishing
Edwin P. Nicholson, 74, of Port Tobacco, Maryland, is a Vietnam War veteran and prostate cancer survivor who founded Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing. Mr. Nicholson’s organization mentors disabled vets during fishing trips around the world.
Mr. Nichols was reared in Northern Ohio in the small town of Wadsworth. As a youth, he developed a love of the outdoors and could often be found wandering the local fields and woods with his dog and gun.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1964 and receiving a commission as an Ensign in the United States Navy, he was off to sea on what he thought would be two years of obligated service. It didn’t take long for him to decide that life in the Navy was preferable to that of a high school band director and, in short order, he transitioned to the regular Navy, embarking on a career that he would follow for thirty years.
Along the way, there was a succession of assignments, with duty on seven ships (culminating in commands of a destroyer and frigate); Post – Graduate School in Monterey, California; a tour in Viet Nam in the Mekong Delta, as a Riverine Advisor; a stint at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he earned his Masters in National Security and Strategic Studies; and ultimately, commands of two ordinance-related shore installations, prior to his retirement as a Captain in 1994.
Navy life didn’t allow for much time for the great outdoors, but in 1982 the Navy saw fit to send him to Idaho Falls for training. That training was also fly-fishing’s “briar patch” of the Snake River, Henry’s Fork, and the like. He now had his first fly rod and started his passion for fly fishing. Later, shore duty and his work as a civilian allowed him to pick up the pace of outdoor activities and with it, a rekindled affair with fly rods, shotguns, bird dogs, and time spent in the field.
After retiring from the Navy, Ed worked for ten years for Applied Ordinance Technologies in Southern Maryland, the location of his last duty station.
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) began in 2005 serving wounded military service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who were returning home from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since then, PHWFF has expanded nationwide, establishing its highly successful program in Department of Defense hospitals, Warrior Transition Units, and Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and clinics.
Project Healing Waters brings a high-quality, full-spectrum fly-fishing program to an ever-expanding number of disabled active military service personnel across the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, in Military Hospitals and the Warrior Transition Command. The organization focuses its resources wherever the need is greatest and has expanded its partner base in the process. PHWFF has become recognized as an innovative leader and model in the field of therapeutic outdoor recreation for the disabled, through its successful application of the sport of fly-fishing as a rehabilitation tool.
In 2010 the National Consortium for Academics and Sports presented him with their Giant Steps Civic Leader Award. In 2012, he was selected as a Purpose Prize fellow by Encore.org, and the following year he was honored as a recipient of the 2013 Purpose Prize. In March of 2014, Ed was recognized by Field & Stream magazine with the Hero of Conservation Award. Even now, Mr. Nicholson remains passionately involved in PHWFF and committed to helping our disabled veterans and service members enjoy a better life, through participation in fly-fishing education and outings. More importantly, in building lasting mentoring relationships that will follow them as they transition to civilian life. Ed lives in Port Tobacco, Maryland with his wife, Leslie, and his faithful bird – hunting companions, English Pointers Ruby and Gem.
