Bill Mason

Last updated
Bill Mason
Bill Mason 09.jpg
Born
William Clifford Mason

1929
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died(1988-10-29)October 29, 1988
Meech Lake, Quebec, Canada
Citizenship Canadian
Occupation(s) Naturalist, author, artist,
filmmaker, and conservationist
Children2
AwardsBAFTA Best Specialised Film
1970 The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes
1977 Path of the Paddle: Doubles Basic  ; Path of the Paddle: Doubles Whitewater  ; Path of the Paddle: Solo Basic  ; Path of the Paddle: Solo Whitewater

Bill Mason was a Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker, and conservationist, noted primarily for his popular canoeing books, films, and art as well as his documentaries on wolves. Mason was also known for including passages from Christian sermons in his films. [1] 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. Mason canoed all of his adult life, ranging widely over the wilderness areas of Canada and the United States. Termed a "wilderness artist," Mason left a legacy that includes books, films, and artwork on canoeing and nature. His daughter Becky [2] and son Paul are also both canoeists and artists. Mason died of cancer in 1988.

Contents

Canoeing

Bill Mason in a canoe. Bill Mason in canoe 01.jpg
Bill Mason in a canoe.

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 1970s. Mason's good friend, filmmaker Blake James, also frequently appeared in his films. [3]

Although he used a variety of Chestnut models in his films, including the "Pal", his favourite boat was a red "Fort" 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 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 in a canoe with overhead camera Bill Mason 02.jpg
Mason in a canoe with overhead camera

Mason won several honours, including being featured on a Canadian postage stamp in 1998. [3] 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. His films can be viewed for free on the internet through the website of the National Film Board of Canada.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has memorialized Mason with a "72 acre outdoor classroom on the west side of the City of Ottawa which its primary focus to provide an opportunity to Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) and non-OCDSB students to explore, experience, appreciate and learn about natural science and outdoor activities in an outdoor setting." [4]

Works by Bill Mason

Books

Films

Sources

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness</span> Wilderness area in Minnesota, United States

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a 1,090,000-acre (4,400 km2) wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in the northeastern part of the US state of Minnesota under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. A mixture of forests, glacial lakes, and streams, the BWCAW's preservation as a primitive wilderness began in the 1900s and culminated in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978. It is a popular destination for canoeing, hiking, and fishing, and is one of the most visited wildernesses in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canoe camping</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quetico Provincial Park</span> Wilderness park in Ontario

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<i>Waterwalker</i> 1984 Canadian film

Waterwalker is a 1984 documentary film by Bill Mason, a Canadian outdoorsman, painter, canoeist and environmentalist, who made many films on the art of canoeing and on the appreciation of nature. Released theatrically in Canada in 1984, it was nominated for a Genie Award for "Best Documentary Feature."

The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes is a 1968 Canadian short film produced by the National Film Board of Canada and directed by Bill Mason. It won the 1971 BAFTA Award for Best Specialised Film.

Saint John's School of Ontario (SJSO) was the third of three private Anglican boys' boarding schools in Toronto founded on conservative Anglican ideas and the notion that children were not challenged by present-day society. The two other defunct schools are Saint John's Cathedral Boys' School (Winnipeg), and Saint John's School of Alberta. The school's program included academics, outdoor education, and chores. Corporal punishment, in the form of hard paddlings delivered to the student's buttocks, was frequently administered at all three schools.

Paddle to the Sea is a 1966 National Film Board of Canada short live-action film directed, shot and edited by Bill Mason. It is based on the 1941 children's book Paddle-to-the-Sea by American author and illustrator Holling C. Holling, and follows the adventures of a child's hand-carved toy Indian in a canoe as it makes its way from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, through Canada's waterways. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 40th Academy Awards.

Garrett and Alexandra Conover have been professional canoe and snowshoe guides since 1980. They are American authors and registered Maine Guides, who have specialized in traditional wilderness travelling techniques of the boreal north woods.

Kevin Callan is a Canadian canoe enthusiast, media personality, and author of thirteen books, including the bestselling The Happy Camper and "A Paddler's Guide To" series.

<i>Blake</i> (film) 1969 Canadian film

Blake is a 1969 Canadian short documentary film produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The film was directed by Bill Mason about his friend and fellow filmmaker Blake James, who pilots his own aircraft and lives by a unique code. Blake is Mason's cinematic testimonial to his friend and his "hobo of the skies" lifestyle.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canoe Country Outfitters</span>

Canoe Country Outfitters was formed in 1946 in Ely, Minnesota, to provide canoe trip outfitting services for Quetico Provincial Park and Superior National Forest and what was to become Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Bill Rom started the business and then sold it to Bob Olson Sr. in 1975. At times they have been dubbed to be the largest canoe outfitter in the world. They operate from two locations, one in downtown Ely, Minnesota, the other on Moose lake, about 20 miles east of Ely.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary and Joanie McGuffin</span>

Gary and Joanie McGuffin are Canadian explorers, conservation photographers, writers, motivational speakers, documentarians and conservationists. Their most documented adventures have been about canoeing on waterways throughout North America, bicycling from the Arctic to the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans, backpacking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, circumnavigating Lake Superior by canoe and paddling across Northern Ontario in the footsteps of Grey Owl. The McGuffins are noted primarily for their popular paddle sports instructional books on canoeing and kayaking, and their documentary film based on their research about the Group of Seven artists. Between adventures, the McGuffins are ambassadors of the wilderness, touring the world through speaking events, photo exhibitions, book tours, eco-tourism development, and educational seminars on conservation. In 2000, the Ontario government officially appointed Gary and Joanie as Champions of the Coast under the Great Lakes Heritage Coast program. In 2003, they were the recipients of the Premier's Award and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for wilderness preservation and environmental education achievements for their province and their country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Hadfield</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canoe pack</span>

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References

  1. "An interview with Bill Mason" (PDF). Crux Magazine. 9 (4). Summer 1972. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-01.
  2. "Production to stop on popular canoe material Royalex".
  3. 1 2 Ohayan, Albert. "About this playlist". Bill Mason: Beyond the wild, beyond the paddle. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  4. "Bill Mason Centre Programs". ocdsb.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-09.

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