Page 20 - LIN March-2023 50-84-sent

by Jeff Lytle

JAN of ALL TRADES,

AND MASTER of ALL

os Equis beer commercials used to feature “the most interesting man in the world” -- with exotic, made-up credentials.
D If that ad campaign ever gets a reboot, a retired Naples surgeon would be an ideal star – and all of the credentials would be true.

A sampling of Dr. Jan Forszpaniak’s resumé includes: world champion fisherman, global fish
researcher, fervent conservationist, python hunter, speaker of six languages (and dabbler in six
more), multitasking musician, painter, sculptor and cook – in addition to 45 years as a doctor,
specializing in breast cancer surgery for 25 years in Naples.
Now 70 and living in Pelican Bay, he explains he stepped aside from the profession he loved
in 2018 because of ailments in both hands that caused occasional involuntary movements.
Yet, that door closing became a passport to so many experiences around the world. He does
not just read about exotic fish; he travels around the world to study and catch them, taking small
samples of tissue for analysis and tracking. He also does some teaching to natives about how to
sustain and extend fisheries, for ethical as well as commercial reasons.

Forszpaniak has fished in Greenland, Scandinavia, Brazil, Peru, Tasmania, Russia, South
Africa, Zambia, New Guinea, Gilbert’s Archipelago, Christmas Island, Cook Islands, French
Polynesia, Turks and Caicos, New Caledonia and more.
At his accomplished level, the terminology can require a dictionary and locales can send
seasoned travelers reaching for an atlas. One International Game Fish Association article,
written by Forszpaniak, tells of a quest for taimen – giant trout – in Siberia in Russia’s Far
East, “a wild, hauntingly beautiful, bountiful and nearly untouched sport fishing destination”
that includes the Limuri River.

Alongside technical data about fish weights, sizes and tackle – the bible to anglers at this level
-- there are colorful anecdotes about encountering “five scary-looking men who told us they were
digging for gold,” and: “Tents were comfortable; the menu included fire-roasted local game such
as moose and boar – even caviar – and there was plenty of vodka.”
His passion started early in his native Poland. Grandparents had a ranch with a pond of carp,
which he would dissect as a forerunner of later real-life surgical skills. He also remembers seeing
fish elsewhere killed by careless industrial pollution.
Forszpaniak took to heart a grandfatherly admonition to be the best at what you pursue.
He studied medicine and came to New York to sharpen skills. He moved to the Florida Keys,
then Naples, to practice medicine and fish. His medical legacy with patients is using maximum
technology and minimum trauma via surgery and chemotherapy.

20 Life in Naples | March 2023