# Fred Trost dead at 61



## Fred Bear

I will miss Fred Trost. Like him or not he had one of the best local shows for outdoors men I have ever seen.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070718/NEWS01/707180396/1001/news


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## bjacobs

Tragic loss. Something I will always remember is the whole family sitting around the tv on thursday nights to watch his show.


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## AL D.

He will be missed, I always looked forward to his show on Thursday night. RIP Fred..............


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## wishtofish

What a Great "MICHIGAN" Outdoorsman. Whether you liked Fred or not, he always had the Michigan Sportsman at heart......

Remembering his shows, recipies (I still have several clipped out of his magizines from 25 years ago), and his ways in the outdoors. He wasn't the best hunter or fisherman, but he told you that.

I can remember the show, hunting Snapping Turtles in a stream, reaching under the under-bank to pull out a turtle............. Fred was standing what he thought was a large rock in the middle of the stream until the rock started to move.... Yep, a Huge Snapping Turtle.... He was Squeeling like a School Girl..... 

I also remember going to Newfoundland a few years back and turning on the TV only to see Fred on their TV. The guides we were Moose Hunting with watched Fred every week.....

Our prayers go out to Fred, his family & friends............


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## Schnookie

As a youth going through High School in the early 80's Fred Troast was a favorite of mine. I remember especially the Thanksgiving thursday night episodes when all the talk was of opening day of firearm deer season. Our entire family would stop visiting for one hour to enjoy Fred followed by
Marty Stouffers Wild America.

Thanks for the memories and may the Helgermites be your friend.


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## backstrap bill

I grew up watching Fred trost every thursday night. He had his own way of putting things in perspective. A true sportsman. He will be deeply missed. R.I.P. Fred. :sad:


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## fbuckner

I will always remember his parting line and it still makes be daydream of great fishing and hunting..

"Get outdoors its a great place to be" - Fred Trost

I loved his cooking segments and could understand why Bob Garner and Charlie were so damn Fat. Charlie lost his weight Bob I think still has to sit on a stump. LOL 

Rest In Peace Brother Fred you are in good company with Fred Bear, Mort Neff and all the Great Michigan sportsman see you when I get to the other side


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## mikieday

r.i.p.


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## Teacher

As a youngster watching the show I met him and Kathy, Bob at outdoor ramma I want to say. I really enjoyed his shows. Some of the stuff just makes you laugh.


Favorite memory is when he shot a 5 or 6 point on some private propety that had a 8 point or bigger rule, and he joking and in a way debated how this in a way was an 8 point or bigger. 

Best wishes to the family


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## Enigma

I remember once sitting down watching him on a thursday night and waiting for the fishing report to see how the smelt dipping was in tawas and he said they were getting some so he said the big run should be any time now.So me and my buddy and his girl friend head up there not much was happing right when we got there so we try to catch some burbot alot of people started coming out on the state dock then all of a sudden nets were fly filled with smelt so we droped are rod and got the nets out and started geting alot of smelt then my friend girlfriend went in to labor so we had to rush back to saginaw were she had there baby not to long after we got her there I 've never got smelt that many or that fast ever again.But thank Fred we will miss you I was on the program twice once at gander mountain and at the fishing banquet.Thursday night were specail at my house me and my friends watching the program and drinking beer.and talking crap.The other outdoor michigan show don't hold a candle to Fred Trost's show.


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## rick

Man this blew me away. I didn't know until the site shut down from 8 til 9. (very classy). Being in my mid 50's I remember his show being the only show to watch. I always looked forward to his shows and recorded many on vhs. I just watched one the other night and made the venison egg rolls with peanut butter in them. Charlie and fred raved about them so I gave the reciept a try and they where exellent. There where even pheasant in Michigan back then and he always did a show on the opener.
RIP Fred and I will see ya in that great hunting ground in the sky.


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## AlmontHappycamper

Nice, real guy. He told it like he saw it. I cherish the memories of my then 2 yr. old sitting on my lap yelling to his mom, "hurry up with the popcorn, Fred's starting"(well in 2 yr. old gibberish) on Thursday nights when his bedtime was extended. Or the time he met Fred when he was 5 at a Puppy Saturday. He treated him as well as any father would treat his own child. Listened to what he had to say, didn't poo-poo him like he could have. This will be our first hunting season, he's 12 now and looking forward to October.

Godspeed Fred.

Trost family you're in my prayers.

Kevin


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## Dangler

When I moved from Indiana to Michigan in December 1986 for work I was in a motel room on a Thursday night and saw this great outdoor show on PBS. Little did I know that I would some day be featured on that show for a successful turkey hunt I captured on video in 1998 and come to know Fred after meeting him on stage, talking to him on the phone and at local social gatherings.

I didn't agree with everything he did, but I have defended him on this forum many times for his efforts to educate us on political matters that affect us as Michigan outdoorsmen. He gave us more than just another show with hunting videos.

I miss his show, and now I will his presense.


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## HeavyF150

I read Eric's column, basically because we're starved for a daily or at least weekly dose of some sort of outdoor writing in the newspaper, but the timing of this column just seems wrong......

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070720/SPORTS10/707200341/1048


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## MPT

HeavyF150 said:


> I read Eric's column, basically because we're starved for a daily or at least weekly dose of some sort of outdoor writing in the newspaper, but the timing of this column just seems wrong......
> 
> http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070720/SPORTS10/707200341/1048


Hopefully the family can sue to help ease their pain. I jusy wonder what pac urged him to write it.


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## Joe Archer

I also read Eric Sharp's column today and commented to a co-worker that it was in extreme poor taste, showed a lack of class and ethics on his part, and I feel bad for the family for having this written in such a dark hour. 
To Fred's family; our prayers are with you. As sportsmen we appreciated what Fred stood for! He will be remembered.
<----<<<


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## Bachflock

Fred will certainly be missed.


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## Burksee

Joe Archer said:


> I also read Eric Sharp's column today and commented to a co-worker that it was in extreme poor taste, showed a lack of class and ethics on his part, and I feel bad for the family for having this written in such a dark hour.
> To Fred's family; our prayers are with you. As sportsmen we appreciated what Fred stood for! He will be remembered.
> <----<<<


Amen Joe!


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## AL D.

Joe Archer said:


> I also read Eric Sharp's column today and commented to a co-worker that it was in extreme poor taste, showed a lack of class and ethics on his part, and I feel bad for the family for having this written in such a dark hour.
> To Fred's family; our prayers are with you. As sportsmen we appreciated what Fred stood for! He will be remembered.
> <----<<<


I totally agree Joe, Eric Sharp can be pretty cold hearted and I am sure he will hear about it........................ RIP Fred. Al


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## javelin

Eric Sharp is completely tasteless and this was a selfish effort to take stabs at a man who is no longer here to defend himself. They obviously did not have a good relationship and did not see eye to eye on some issues, but there is a time and place.........today was neither We have all made mistakes in life including myself. I hope there is not some prick talking Shight about me after I die. 

Let's remeber Fred and others like him for all they have DONE to help further our outdoor education and interests. 

I normally enjoy Eric's articles, this is just WAY over the line. It is sad how society has changed to the point where some consider this acceptable and can even defend Eric's stance. In my mind Eric is a punk in this matter. I would not be suprised to see him rockin some saggy jeans, a sean jean shirt, pelle pelle jacket and do rag next time I see him because he showed about as much respect in this matter as I see from todays youth on a daily basis -- NONE.

Eric Sharp - You should learn to show more class and be a role model!!!


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## walleyeman2006

why ...Fred was a good guy .....quite comical sometimes but still hes gone now its not time to bash him...i give him a lot of credit for standing up to the DNR and other groups....every one needs a watch dog


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## Chuck1

I had the pleasure of meeting Fred a couple times,and he was always friendly. I even helped out at outdoorama one year. No regrets, he inspired me,and my friends to get out ,and enjoy the outdoors. RIP Fred. Michigan has lost an icon. 

As far as this jackass Eric, I hope someone punches him right in the mouth for doing an article like that. I am truly disgusted


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## just ducky

I'm gonna try to say this without creating more controversy. First, yes Fred did a lot for Michigan sportsman. Let's face it, back in those days, there just weren't many outdoor shows on tv, and especially none about Michigan (still aren't many). He picked up where Neff and Chiappetta left off, and did quite well for a few years. However after a few years he started trying to get slick, going to places outside of Michigan, and trying to expand the show beyond where Mort Neff had gone. He said many times that he had to do that to survive, like he could ever compete with the shows on ESPN or elsewhere...I personally felt that was the start of the end. After all, it was "Michigan OutDoors", not Ontario, Alaska, etc., etc. But the big downfall of Fred (IMO) and unfortunately what I'll remember most about Fred is how everything became a personal vendetta, and he used the public airwaves as his platform. When he got a ticket, he'd openly complain on the show (even though he was truly in violation). If someone complained to him about a CO, he'd openly complain about it (even though the person was typically in violation). He started getting on the DNR staffers regularly, calling them liars and worse (many of whom I knew personally). These were hard-working men and women who were doing the best they could. He got on the MUCC, mostly because they didn't support him or his views. Then the whole buck stop case, in which again Fred was proven wrong by the courts, AND HIS OWN HIRED LABORATORY! And for those of you who complained about the Eric Sharp column, tell me where Sharp told a lie or slandered Fred? Everything he said is true. Now was it poor taste to write this column a day after the poor guy died? Sure. And did "forget" to point out the many good things that Fred did for sportsman? Sure. So I'm not saying I agree with Sharp writing that article...I personally don't care for Sharp. But the fact is what he said is fact. Yes, it was poor taste to do it now...no question. 

I met Fred twice, once when we had him emcee our Duck's Unlimited banquet, and he did a decent job although I'll just say he was a lot different in person than he was on the show. Don't want to slander the poor guy now that he's gone, but we never asked him back...I'll leave it at that. The second time was on our annual fishing trip to Ontario, when out of the blue we met him and his gang coming across the portage trails...we were on our way out, and they were on their way in. He had the whole camera crew and even interviewed our group for a two-week special called called "Beyond the Soo". He talked with our gang quite a bit, and like I said some of our guys are in the footage from that show. So that's one of the better memories I have of him. Although his buddies on the trip were laughing about how they were all doing the work carrying the gear while he shoved a mic in the face of every Tom, Dick and Harry, including us :lol:

My hunting buddies and I have talked about Fred for years. Generally, he was a likeable guy, and we all have our faults. But where he went wrong (IMO) was when he started using every show as a platform for his vendettas against the DNR, MUCC, or whomever, and turning a show that was founded by sportsman for sportsman into an "editorial" platform. That just detracted from the show, and gave him a black eye with some. And we all quit watching...it just was no fun anymore to listen to, whether we agreed with him or not.

Having said all of that, I certainly never wished the guy any harm, and am saddened by this news. He did provide a service to sportsmen and women, a service which probably would've died when Chiappetta packed up and left. So for that, thanks Fred!


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## Motorcity_MadMan

Just Ducky , what Eric S. left off is this about the $60,000 bill to the handicap group .That group used Freds stuido offices for free. The air time he gave them was priceless. When they got big enough and they could pay , they snubb him. Fred didn't chase them down , he moved on. Eric S left that part off... I wonder way. The free ride was over for Roger Mc. and the handicap group.

The trial , you left a part off also. You left off that a local judge , that get's elected localy knew the planiffs and so did the members of the jury ( it's a small county ) . It was the judge that wouldn't let the enidence from the laboratory to be heard by the jury... So much for justice , or was it JUST-US.??? Mr. Eric S left that off also , I wonder why.

Trust me , glycerin dosen't come from a deer's bladder.

He got on MUCC because they wanted to jump on the environmental movement at the cost of hunting and fishing. It was the Bottle Bill that was the begining of the end for the outdoors in Michingan. What type of people moved up at the DNR , the environmental types , where would the money come from .... the fish and game fund. Who spoke up about spliting the DEQ & the DNR ... Fred ... Who was aganist it MUCC.. Simple.

You could see the change over at the 70's & 80's when you read the NOW defunct DNR magazine , you could hardly find a hunting or fishing story near it's end... all environment.. simple The signs were there , the old guard at the DNR saw what was going on , but they wanted to keep thier jobs... so they had NO ONE else to call , NOT MUCC they couldn't be trusted .... It was Fred. It took years before Fred said this garbage is enough , and then he started to speak up for everyone who loves the outdoors. At first the DNR dodged his question , then blacked balled him. That scared the other outdoor witers , you don't see the tough question being asked by anyone ... The good commutator's are all gone now. Remember the guy before Eric S , Tom Opery ( SP ? ) he's the one the in the 80's that told Fred on his show the bad things that were just on the horizon for the outdoors in Michigan ... look around , it's here now. 

On this license increase , look at some of the names that are for it , the ones that stood by while the theif of fish and game funds to place.

Any doubt about the MUCC directions , just look at the membership numbers, it took 50 years to get to 145,000 members. After they started their own Pro DNR tv show with the lovechild of the DNR Fat Bob , MUCC lost 100,000 members in 12 years... The proof is in the pudding.

Fred was the last outdoor commutator with a spine.


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## wally-eye

Damn, let the guy rest in peace..........:rant:


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## DaYoop

I, along with many of you, grew up watching Fred on Thursday nights... He will be missed.....


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## ybone

keep this simple. i am with just ducky on this. 

it was nothing compared to mort.
Fred had his show. he used it for his purposes and ours somewhat. i met him twice. 

i feel sorry for his family and closest of friends and relatives.


my 2 C


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## wingedwheel

MPT said:


> Hopefully the family can sue to help ease their pain. I jusy wonder what pac urged him to write it.


foolish post--there are absolutely no grounds for his family to sue


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## twodogsphil

In his story below Eric Sharp points out some the negative issues Fred was involved in but that isn't the half of it. Personnaly I'm directly aware of a half dozen others. For example;

For opening week of gun deer season he was invited to hunt a Clare County property. He got a little opening day footage but didn't see the big bucks he was expecting, so he and the photographer pulled up stakes and took off without even thanking their host,

On his TV show he showed film of an evening bowhunt where he gut-shoots a doe fawn, and after a quick look for it takes off, because there's a commitment to be filming somewhere else in the state the next day,

When he was spotted in a northern Michigan titty bar, he threatened to attack a young man who suggested he was going to take Fred's picture,

When he spoke at my local sportsman club Fred said he was turning over a new leaf and was not going to be critical of others in the outdoor industry. Then in the next 15 minutes he went on to lambaste Ted Nugent, the late Tom Washington, MUCC, the MDNR, QDMA, and anyone who was stupid enough to think kids could be recruited into hunting and fishing,

After he became an attorney, he filed a frivolous lawsuit against a non-profit organization [which I'm a member of]. To avoid the cost of litigation the organization settled out-of-court -- basically he extorted $10,000 from us.

ERIC SHARP OUTDOORS

Controversy surrounded local TV outdoorsman
July 20, 2007

BY ERIC SHARP

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

Fred Trost, the controversial and self-promoting former host of one of Michigan's longest-running outdoors television shows, died Wednesday of a lung disease at the University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor. He was 61.

I wasn't a fan of Trost. He made me an occasional target of his televised rants, although he more often vented on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources or Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the latter of which he blamed for most of his financial and legal woes.

Advertisement


Trost painted himself as the champion of the little man, opposing callous bureaucracies, greedy manufacturers and sneaky, jackbooted thugs who handed out too many tickets for wildlife violations.

Trost was on television for more than two decades, mostly on the public channels where he was a very effective fund-raiser and had the biggest audience in the genre. On the show, he would show Michiganders hunting and fishing, he would offer tips, and he would promote his museum and other business enterprises.

To many Michiganders, he was the voice of the outdoors, a larger-than-life personality. Many viewers admired Trost's tenacity and stances on DNR politics, paying $7 a head to visit his museum in Bath and showing up with mounted deer heads for Big Buck Night.

Trost's son, Zachary, told the Lansing State Journal: "I've had people come up to me over the past few weeks and say, 'I learned fishing from your father,' 'I learned to skin a fish from your father,' 'Your father made me passionate about the outdoors.' "

But Trost also had many critics who questioned his style and ethics.

Jerry Chiappetta hosted "Michigan Outdoors" before Trost and was one of the critics. He explained Trost's success this way Thursday: "People in Michigan love the outdoors, and there just weren't many outdoors shows on. They'd watch anything if it included fishing and hunting. And Mort Neff had made the name 'Michigan Outdoors' something special."

Trost was especially critical of conservation officers who enforced fish and game laws, claiming they were overzealous. But he had been cited for violating those laws more than once, including an instance where he was caught hunting ducks without a federal waterfowl stamp, and another in which he was caught in illegal possession of dead hawks and owls.

Trost announced on the air after the hawks-and-owls bust that in an effort to help other outdoors people avoid similar pitfalls with overly complex regulations, he had decided to devote some shows to the subject.

He failed to mention that the shows were part of a plea bargain with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in exchange for the agency dropping felony charges.

One day about 15 years ago, I got a call from an officer of Outdoors Forever, a group that helps handicapped people get access to hunting and fishing. Outdoors Forever was very upset because it had received a bill from Trost for $60,000 for "professional services."

Outdoors Forever said Trost offered to help found the group and then televise its efforts to get people in wheelchairs and on crutches into the outdoors. The group was shocked a few years later to receive the bill, which Trost refused to itemize.

The group contacted a lawyer and never paid Trost, although he claimed that he actually had given a large discount on his services.

Neff was tough act to follow

Trost began his outdoors career as a cameraman for Neff, whose near-legendary "Michigan Outdoors" television show ran in 1951-75. When Neff retired, it was taken over by Neff's producer, Chiappetta.

Chiappetta later moved to Florida after a divorce. He told me that he got a call from a friend in Michigan asking why he had sold "Michigan Outdoors" to Trost. It transpired that Neff had never registered the name of his show as a trademark, and Trost took it over in 1982, Chiappetta said.

Trost inherited the most popular locally produced show in Michigan. Neff's legacy was almost a guarantee of success, like being handed hosting duties on "Survivor." But Trost lost the show in the infamous Buck Stop libel case in 1992.

Buck Stop Lures is a small company in Stanton that makes scents hunters use to attract deer, including one that contains urine from does. Trost did a show claiming that the Buck Stop scent contained cow urine, not deer urine, and that it wasn't effective. Even after he paid for a laboratory test that showed the Buck Stop scent contained deer urine, Trost repeated his claim on subsequent shows.

Not just Buck Stop, but the entire deer-scent business was impacted, and Buck Stop sued for libel. At first, the company simply asked Trost to retract his claims on the air. He refused, so Buck Stop went to court and won a $4-million judgment, which with interest over the years has swollen to more than $8 million.

Others in the outdoors industry said Buck Stop became a target because it refused to join a new clearinghouse for consumer complaints Trost was founding.

Manufacturers of outdoors gear would pay Trost a fee each year. If a consumer had a problem with one of their products, Trost would act as a mediator to resolve the problem quietly. But if they didn't join, he might air the dispute on television.

Trost soon filed for bankruptcy, losing the rights to his television show in the process. But a year later his bankruptcy protection was overturned in an even rarer legal action when a court found that he had lied and tried to hide assets during the proceeding.

The federal bankruptcy court judge said that "by his own fraud, deceit and seeming complete disregard for the integrity of the bankruptcy process, the debtor has derailed himself on his way to obtaining the fresh start which Chapter 7 offers. ... It appears that Mr. Trost has now been hoisted by his own petard."

Phyllis Shilling, a vice president at Buck Stop, said Thursday that "we express our condolences to his family" and didn't want to make any other comment.

After losing the Buck Stop case, Trost went to law school, graduated and once told me he was going to make his living suing everyone who had done him wrong. That plan never seemed to come to fruition.

Soon after "Michigan Outdoors" went off the air, Trost started a new show, "Practical Sportsman." It aired to steadily declining audiences as he relied increasingly on segments filmed years or even decades before. He took "Practical Sportsman" off the air in 2005, and for the past couple of years had been running an Internet site called JoeSportsman.com. A notice said after his memorial service -- details haven't been announced -- the site would "rest in peace with him."

Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or [email protected]


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## mb_of_the_mills

I'm not going to get involved in the who said what thing, now is not the appropriate time. I will say that Fred Trost seemed to really enjoy the outdoors and his enthusiasm was infectious. He apparently did help to bring that enthusiasm to many people otherwise there wouldn't be so many posts about him now. In the end, remembering that no one is perfect, and taken as a whole, he was great for hunting, fishing, and for his fellow sportsmen. And he was absolutely right about one thing, being outdoors is a great place to be.​


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## Fred Bear

sheeesh, I never thought saying goodbye to Fred was gunna be so rewarding for some of you. Fred is what he is and was what he was. For me he was the local outdoors report.

I have learned more about Fred Trost in this thread than ever before.


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## Jigster

I couldn't wait for Thursday nights be it Mort-Jerry or Fred. The lord blessed me with 2 daughters that sorry to say were not into fishing or hunting. I DID MAKE THEM stand in front of the TV every Thursday and sing the Michigan Outdoors song! They are all grown up and still know and can sing the song!
Fred will shurely be missed at my house, we had alot of great times and I learned a fair amount about the outdoors from that character! RIP Fred.

"From the rugged shores and woodlands..............." 

Jigster


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## itchn2fish

Walk tall as the trees, 
live strong as the mountains, 
be gentle as the spring winds, 
keep the warmth of the summer sun 
in your heart, and the great spirit 
will always be with you.

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

There is no death, only a change of worlds.
You will live forever as a memory in our hearts.
Thank you, Fred.


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