Zane Grey and a 2,200 lb sunfish

AVALON—Famous author and world-class fisherman Zane Grey first visited Catalina Island on his honeymoon in 1906. By 1914, Grey began to make annual trips to the island. He’s pictured here on one of those trips in 1926 with a 2,200-pound Sunfish he caught. It was the same year the novelist built a home on Catalina Island on the hillside overlooking Avalon Bay. He spent most of his later life in Avalon writing and fishing. He was fond of saying, “In order to fish, I write.” Grey’s Hopi Indian adobe-style hilltop estate was converted to a hotel after his death in 1939 at the age of 67.