Ret Talbot

Ret writes about saltwater aquaria and the business of saltwater aquaria.

As a professional, full-time freelance writer, Ret writes extensively for a variety of audiences in the marine aquarium industry, and he is the co-author of the forthcoming The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Saltwater Aquarium (Spring 2009). He also writes a regular column called “Ret Talbot Live! Marine Crossroads: Where Science, Ecology & Hobby Meet” for Microcosm Aquarium Explorer, a website with more than 7,000 pages of content created by an international team of leading aquarium authors, marine biologists, underwater photographers, and tropical naturalists. His thoughts on the marine aquarium industry can also be found at The Reef Tank, where he blogs about the industry behind the hobby.

When he isn’t writing about saltwater aquarium fishes, he’s often fly fishing in either salt- or freshwater and writing about conservation issues related to angling and healthy fisheries. He has worked as a fly fishing guide in the Yukon Territory, the Rocky Mountain West and along some of the best trout creeks in New England and the mid-Atlantic. His fly fishing articles have appeared in national magazines such as Fly Fisherman, Shallow Water Angler and Fur, Fish, Game.

Ret received his undergraduate degree in creative writing and literature from Wheaton College (Massachusetts) under the tutelage of poet Sue Standing, and he then went on to earn an advanced degree in writing from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) where he was fortunate to work with novelist, short story writer and poet Brian McCabe. A sucker for academia, Ret has taught creative writing and United States literature at both the secondary school and university levels for more than a decade, where he has created award-winning experiential curricula combining interdisciplinary education, scientific research and mountaineering.

When not writing or teaching, Ret can be found pursuing any of a number of outdoor pursuits ranging from surfing to climbing. A mountaineering instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School, he has guided and climbed around the world including first ascents in Norway, Scotland and Alaska and extensive climbing and guiding in the Andes, the Alps and throughout the Rocky Mountains.

Ret and his wife Karen—a published illustrator—split their time between Laguna Beach, California and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.