Bill Mason

Infobox Actor
name = Bill Mason
birthname = William Clifford Mason
birthdate = 1929
birthplace = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
deathdate = death date|1988|10|29
deathplace = Meech Lake, Canada
baftaawards = Best Specialised Film
1970 "The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes"
1977 ' ; ' ; ' ; '

Bill Mason was an award-winning Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker, and conservationist, noted primarily for his popular canoeing books, films, and art. He was born in 1929 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and graduated from the University of Manitoba School of Art in 1951. He developed and refined canoeing strokes and river-running techniques, especially for complex whitewater situations. He canoed all of his adult life, ranging widely over the wilderness areas of Canada and the United States. Called "wilderness artist," in one book about him, Mason left a legacy that includes books, films and artwork on canoeing and wild nature. He died of cancer in 1988.

Canoeing

In his review of James Raffan's 1996 biography of Mason, Michael Peake refers to Mason as "the patron saint of canoeing." To many Canadian and American Paddlers and Canoeists growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, his series of instructional films were the introduction to technique and the canoeing experience. In many ways, Bill, Joyce, Paul and Becky Mason were the "faces" of Canadian Canoeing in the '70s.

Although he used a variety of Chestnut models in his films, including the "Pal" and the "Fort", his favourite boat was a red Chestnut Prospector, a 16 foot canvas covered wood canoe that he claimed was the most versatile design ever manufactured, in spite of the popularity of more durable and modern construction techniques and materials. After his death, this canoe was donated to the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario, where it is on display. His wife, Joyce, and children, Paul and Becky, frequently travelled with him and contributed to his later books and films, and have continued his life work and environmentalism.

Honours

Mason won several honours, including being featured on a Canadian postage stamp in 1998. After his death, a warden at Nahanni National Park Reserve informally started calling the dramatic rock spire, in the midst of Virginia Falls, "Mason's Rock". This usage appears to have become widespread, although it has not yet been made official.

Works by Bill Mason

Books

*"Path of the Paddle" ISBN 1-55209-328-X, on the technique of Canadian style canoeing
*"Song of the Paddle" ISBN 1-55209-089-2, on wilderness canoe travel
*"Canoescapes" - a compilation of text and his paintings

Films

*"The Voyageurs" (1964)
*"Paddle to the Sea" (1966) - nominated for Best Short Film, Academy Awards 1968
* "The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes" (1968)
*"Blake" (1969) - on the passion of flying, nominated Best Live Action Short Film, Academy Awards 1970
*"Death of a Legend" (1971) - a documentary on the threats to wolves
*"Cry of the Wild" (1972) - a film on timber and Arctic wolves
*"Goldwood" (1974)
*"In Search of the Bowhead Whale" (1974) - adventure film of a whaling expedition
*"Wolf Pack" (1974)
*"Face of the Earth" (1975)
*"Path of the Paddle" (1977) - a series of films on the techniques of canoeing
*"Song of the Paddle" (1978) - a film of one of Bill Mason's family wilderness canoeing trips
*"Coming Back Alive" (1980) - an instructional film on recreational boating safety
*"Pukaskwa National Park" (1983)
*"The Land that Devours Ships" (1984)
*"Waterwalker" (1984) - a feature-length film of Bill Mason's journey on Lake Superior

References

*Buck, K. 2005. "Bill Mason: Wilderness Artist From Heart to Hand." Rocky Mountain Books. ISBN 1-894765-60-5
*Mason, P. "The Thrill of the Paddle" ISBN 1-55209-451-0
*Raffan, J. 1996. "Fire in the Bones, Bill Mason and the Canadian Canoeing Tradition." Toronto: Harper Collins

External links

* [http://www.redcanoes.ca/bill/index.html Biographical Summary]