[pct-l] "Grizzly Man" on TV tonight

[dsaufley at sprynet.com (dsaufley@sprynet.com)]

We have "One Man's Wilderness" here at Hiker Heaven, too.  I've just started reading it, but look forward to relishing the quiet good sense and profound observations this incredible man had.  There is a sequel film, made by Bob Swerer and his son, called "Alaska, Silence & Solitude", wherein they visit Proenneke in his later years.  One of the most memorable scenes is watching the Swerer's crossing a glacial river with their waders and insulation, then watching Proenneke cross with his bare legs with nary a wince -- calling them his waders.  He was in his 70s at the time.  And, yes, I believe there are flapjacks in either one or both of these films -- I'll have to rewatch them (with pleasure) to confirm it though!  I do remember tha he makes up a stew with vegetables he grew in his garden that had me salivating.  I wistfully wished that I could have spent time with this man, learning just a fraction of the lessons about survival that he had to teach.

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
>From: Ben Armstrong <benarmstrong1@yahoo.com>
>Sent: Feb 4, 2006 10:42 PM
>To: pctl <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] "Grizzly Man" on TV tonight
>
>Alleluia!  This thread brought me from hibernation ... I have 6,000 emails that have to be attended to.  Geez Louise, how can we ever check them all? Really, really, does anyone know?  
>   
>  My father gave me One Man's Wilderness for my birthday, my 34th and come July 2nd five years since the last trail, there are so many numbers, and he wrote in his note: "Old Dick did it his way." I read this gift on my front porch in north Florida, lounging miles from the Gulf and kicked back in my rocker:
>   
>  "Oh my, he's gone to the woods and chopping wood. Big time."
>   
>  Ben--"Today I was cleaning up my area (so much gear in old backpacks and many kits to be made); there's so much to catch all of you up on, I've written a book about hiking 2/3s of the Triple Crown, and I'm getting married.  The CDT seems far away, but that's okay because I have already arranged the agreement, gotten in place a contract, that long walks occur regularly enough, at least as much as I can stand it."
>  Bona Fide
>  Holt 
>  Japhy
>  Mango Rabbit
>  Louis Eliot
>  Armstrong
>
>Matt Church <mdchurch@gmail.com> wrote:
>  The DVD can be purchased through the Alaska Natural History
>Association at http://www.alaskanha.org/_details.cfm?ProdID=969. The
>order was quickly shipped. They also offer a second (and longer)
>account of Proenekke's writings while living in the wild. It's one of
>the places I go when I dream.
>
>Matt
>
>On 2/4/06, Wayne Kraft wrote:
>> Donna, now we're talking. I have not yet seen this film, but I have
>> here in my hand a copy of the book, One Man's Wilderness, An Alaskan
>> Odyssey by Sam Keith from the journals and photographs of Richard
>> Proenneke. On page 68 of this paperback version there is a
>> photograph of a stack of pancakes drizzled in Proenekke's homemade
>> wild blueberry syrup and topped with a few pieces of bacon. This is
>> the most beautiful photograph, no, the most beautiful image of any
>> kind that I have ever seen. It should be hanging in the Louvre,
>> perhaps with a plaque inscribed with a brief message in French,
>> consoling the French people for the culinary failure of their crepes
>> as compared to these flapjacks. I have attempted without success to
>> replicate this image in my own kitchen on any number of Saturday
>> mornings. Near my home stands the original pancake house. I am
>> referring here to the original, and possibly the only, restaurant
>> devoted entirely to serving pancakes and pancakes only all the time.
>> There is always a long wait to get a table. This is a pancake house
>> so special that my wife and I chose to consume the first breakfast of
>> our married life therein. I am thinking that I should take them a
>> copy of this photograph and tell them, "See, here, THESE are
>> flapjacks." I believe they would bow their heads in silent homage.
>> I guess I'll have to get a hold of a copy of this film about
>> Proenneke, but I have a question: Does the film version, by any
>> chance, have pancakes in it?
>>
>> Wayne Kraft
>>
>>
>> On Feb 4, 2006, at 7:50 PM, dsaufley wrote:
>>
>> > Oh, I was so looking forward to the commentary about the truly
>> > pathetic,
>> > egocentric, delusional liar Treadwell, and you've summed it up so
>> > perfectly,
>> > Wayne. I just couldn't take any more of his self-absorbed posing and
>> > blubbering and quit watching before it was over, gorgeous bears,
>> > foxes, and
>> > scenery notwithstanding.
>> >
>> > For a really great look at Alaska and it's wildlife, I recommend
>> > watching
>> > "Alone in the Wilderness", the true story of Dick Proenneke (a man
>> > who I
>> > count as a personal hero) who built a log cabin with his hands and
>> > lived
>> > alone in a remote area for 43 years until the age of 83. It's
>> > available
>> > through Bob Swerer Productions, at www.dickproenneke.com , or y'all
>> > can
>> > watch it anytime at Hiker Heaven.
>> >
>> > L-Rod
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
>> > [mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Wayne
>> > Kraft
>> > Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 12:30 PM
>> > To: pctl pctl
>> > Subject: Re: [pct-l] "Grizzly Man" on TV tonight
>> >
>> > I watched it, too. It was definitely a cinematic study of a bipolar,
>> > paranoid, addictive personality rather than bears. I suppose
>> > studying such personalities is valuable to the extent that it might
>> > enable us to bring cure or comfort to such tortured souls, but
>> > Herzog's "study" of Treadwell was no more scientific or useful than
>> > Treadwell's "study" of Grizzlies. In fact there seems to be a
>> > striking parallel between Herzog's rapt fascination with Treadwell
>> > and Treadwell's similar fixation on the Grizzlies. Likewise, Herzog
>> > seemed to insert himself into this film in somewhat the same way
>> > Treadwell featured himself in his footage. Herzog was not obtrusive
>> > exactly, but how many director's appear at all in their films?
>> > Herzog found himself on screen quite a bit here. The irony of it
>> > seemed obvious enough to me that I concluded that it could not have
>> > been unintentional.
>> >
>> > I was also puzzled by what people thought Treadwell was
>> > "protecting." I am willing to agree that Treadwell thought he was
>> > protecting the bears from something, but he was crazy. The bears are
>> > already protected by government regulation and their own isolation.
>> > Treadwell violated both with impunity. The only danger attributable
>> > to the outside world identified in the film was that "poachers" were
>> > killing the bears. The official position was that poaching was not a
>> > significant problem here. In the epilogue, Herzog allowed two of
>> > Treadwell's friends to gather around a grizzly carcass and claim that
>> > the dead bear and others had been killed by poachers since
>> > Treadwell's death, but Herzog presented this as the flimsiest of
>> > speculations. Was there any actual evidence of the cause of this
>> > bear's death, that other bears had died and, if so, what had caused
>> > their deaths? Presumably, if there was even a shred of evidence to
>> > show that Treadwell's absence has resulted in a poaching epidemic,
>> > Herzog would have presented it. Yet people were willing to
>> > contribute financially to Treadwell's endeavor and allow him to make
>> > presentations to impressionable children without a shred of proof
>> > that anything of value was being accomplished. It always amazes me
>> > how easy it is to get people to take their place in the Koolaid line.
>> >
>> > So Treadwell failed to fascinate me and I found myself trying to see
>> > around this blonde buffoon for a look at the bears. Ultimately, I
>> > have to agree with Herzog and
>> > Doc Holliday in his post that the Grizzly bears, while starkly
>> > beautiful animals, are creatures best left the heck alone. Now, the
>> > foxes on the other hand, the foxes are another story. Oh, what a
>> > fine thing it would be to have a fox for your friend! Does anyone
>> > know if there is a fox sanctuary somewhere? I could go there and
>> > befriend them and film them and become their protector. Then someone
>> > could make a film about me. The Fox Man. I could travel the globe
>> > spreading cayenne pepper on the ground in front of the dogs in the
>> > fox hunts, springing foxes from traps and fox ranches and sneaking
>> > foxes into hen houses. Oh, what a life it would be!
>> >
>> > Wayne Kraft
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Feb 4, 2006, at 10:41 AM, Scott Herriott wrote:
>> >
>> >> Doc Holiday wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > >> dissapointed. I
>> >> expected to see a documentary about grizzly bears, and
>> >> instead was
>> >> assaulted by a documentary of a self aggrandizing,
>> >> mis-guided, self
>> >> absorbing, naive young man who pushed the boundaries
>> >> of human interaction with a
>> >> very wild and dangerous animal.>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Well, if I guess it was supposed to be exclusively
>> >> about grizzly bears they may have called it "Grizzly
>> >> Bear" instead of "Grizzly Man". The film's focus WAS
>> >> Treadwell and, as you correctly point out, his "self
>> >> aggrandizing, mis-guided" attempt at what he was doing
>> >> up in Alaska. But I also felt it had, as the director
>> >> Werner Herzog points out in the film, some
>> >> extraordinary footage of grizzlies, probably only
>> >> attainable by what Treadwell was doing, however
>> >> misguided and ultimately tragic it turned out to be.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Squatch
>> >> www.walkpct.com
>> >>
>> >>
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