| The Background to how my
brother survived a Grizzly Bear attack in the Yukon. - and the origins of how me (as a professor) obtained a "tool" to use in an interesting way for encouraging students to consider the craft of "story telling" an important skill to develop in their business and marketing career. The key thing to understand in effective communication is it is not what you know that is convincing, it is how you communicate "it" so that the viewer, or reader is strongly interested to read enough of the words, or view enough of the video, to "get" the message you are trying to engage with. Origin. My mother died of cancer when my brother and I were young - as a result, the family fractured into difference parts of the planet and my brother ended up going to live in the Yukon for a couple of decades. In Q2 2012, my brother called me to say he was fighting the onset of cancer and "wanted to come home". At the time I was teaching full-time at Seneca College, and a full-time equivalent course load as an Adjunct Professor at University of Toronto. (both UTSC and UTM), and... and I had just finished my PhD courses (at UofT) and was writing my PhD thesis on using YouTube !. |
 |
Before
my phone conversation with my brother passed a minute I decided to drop
everything, almost literally, and "go and get him". It's family, it is
what you do.
After checking with my 3 different department chairs, I got on a plane 2 days later and flew one way to Whitehorse. Loaded all his shyte into his lifted black chevy silverado, and we drove together 5,300+ km for 7 days across Canada to our house a coupla hrs north east of Toronto. |
Filling up at the gas station at Watson Lake before crossing the Yukon border into the northern part of British Columbia province. In this part of the world there is ofen a very very far distance between gas stations. |
Internationally famous Watson Lake sign forest on Yukon - B.C. border. |
Black Bears everywhere feeding on the berries that grow on the bushes at the side of the road -not as big as Grizzly Bears, but they'd still kill you and eat you. |
Not much to see in the Yukon (except spectacular wild scenery uncluttered by any sign of humans). |
The road is fairly straight and they cut back the brush very far so it is easier to spot large animals about to run across in front of you at night. |
| Within the first week "home"
my wife and I had him fixed up w medical appointments (there are several
nurses and doctors in our family), he began chemo treatments that month,
got a part-time job at a local hardware store and lived with us while he
got healthier.
In trying to appreciate the scope and size of his outdoor adventures in a part of our country where it is regularly -40 degrees, and one has to develop serious bushcraft and hunting "skills", because you are your own 911, we watched a lot of hunting shows on TV. One fall day, around Grey Cup time, we were watching a hunting show in which a crew were filming a recreation of a large bear attack. My brother, sitting quietly on his end of the chesterfield, kinda snorted some comment under his breath. I perked up and said "what". He mumbled "it doesn't happen like that". I sat right up and said "how would you know", and he answered "cause I shot one". I stuttered "you shot a Grizzly Bear", and he said "yes". I begged him to tell me what happened, he did, and the details are in these 2 videos. |
Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFJkQdZ7FdE
Update Q2 2021.
My brother is healthy. He retired in 2019 and is enjoying a happy life.
Prof.
W. Tim G. Richardson ©www.witiger.com
