The elder half of the famous Murray Brothers says his grandfather, Vito Mennella, used to tie him to the mast of their fishing boat when he was still in diapers. It may be an exaggeration, but probably not by much.
Ed and Frank Murray grew up in Long Island, New York, playing and fishing with another famous fishing family: the Merritts. Maternal grandfather Mennella was a boatbuilder and avid fisherman, though for inshore species such as weakfish, fluke and flounder.
Once grown, Ed Murray (five years older than Frank) and his brother started a successful woodworking business where they make stairs, cabinets, furniture and boats. It seemed natural for them to made their own fighting chairs while in New York, getting the metal parts from the already established boating businesses owned by Rybovich and Merritt. Ultimately, however, enough people started wanting these Murray masterpieces that Frank and Eddie started building them in earnest for the open market.
In 1976, Ed was diagnosed with industrial asthma from all the years of inhaling the dust and chemicals in his furniture and cabinet business. With his health in jeopardy, Ed sold the business, and he and Frank moved to Florida where they hooked up with Don Start, a Wall Street-type who wanted a tackle shop to use as a write-off in order to subsidize his fishing. Together they started Murray Brothers at the foot of the Singer Island Bridge and built a 45-foot Rybovich called Cookie Too, named after Ed's eldest son.
In order to make it easier on Murray Brothers wholesale reps, Ed started making videos of their products that would show prospective customers how they were made and how to use them. In no time, retail customers saw the videos running in the store and the demand for the tapes grew geometrically. Ed suddenly had yet another career: making marine videos. Frank and Ed finally sold Murray Brothers several years ago. The store has moved, and a new catalogue bearing their name does a land-office business for the new owners.
Thirteen years ago, Ed was sitting in the Buccaneer, a motel, marina, restaurant and bar on Singer Island. At that time it catered to a group of pretty shady characters -don't ask what Ed was doing sitting there - but Ed saw the building's potential, so he bought it and proceeded to renovate it himself. Today, the
Buccaneer is a high-class establishment with a fine kitchen that caters to the elite members of the West Palm Beach fishing
community.
Frank Murray, along with his sons, continues to build the finest quality fighting chairs, cockpit accessories and specialty tackle under the name of Murray Products. More importantly, though,
Frank Murray lends a large part of his time, talent and treasure to fishing conservation issues and organizations. His selfless efforts have made a huge impact in helping to change
fisheries regulations and
in fund-raising to expand the recreational fishing voice.
Ed's son, Cookie, can be found fishing for giant bluefin tuna aboard his 50-foot Revenge, Cookie Too, out of Gloucester each summer. Frank fishes with friends as often as he can, while Ed and his new wife, Melanie, fish frequently aboard their renovated Bertram 31, Moppie. You just can't keep the Murrays off the water.
