Bill Mason
William Clifford "Bill" Mason (born 1929 in Winnipeg , Manitoba , † October 29, 1988 in Meech Lake , Canada ) was a naturalist and conservationist, writer, filmmaker and nature painter. He has a special reputation among canoeists because of his educational films and books.
Life
Mason was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1929 . In 1951 he graduated from art school at the University of Manitoba . His love for nature pushed him again and again into the wilderness, for which the Canadier became an important piece of equipment for him, to which he paid great attention throughout his life. He developed and refined various paddle strokes and driving techniques, especially for challenging whitewater passages . Bill Mason made the fascination of canoeing and the wilderness accessible to a wide audience with several films.
Bill Mason died of cancer in 1988 .
His wife Joyce and his children Paul and Becky continued his life's work.
plant
As a writer and filmmaker, Mason has produced several high quality works. With his family he made a series of educational films that earned him the title of “ patron saint of canoeists” or “paddle pope” and which has shaped generations of canoeists since the 1970s. His book and films about paddling technique made him famous in Europe too.
Books
- Path of the Paddle , about the technique of canoeing (translated into German by Elmar Engel and Arno Gatz ).
- Song of the Paddle , about canoe trips in the wild
- Canoescapes , a compilation of texts and paintings by Bill Mason
Movies
- The Voyageurs (1964)
- Paddle to the Sea (1966) (nominated for an Oscar for best short film , 1968)
- The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes (awarded BAFTA , 1968)
- Blake (1969) (nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Film, 1970)
- Death of a Legend (1971) (documentary about the endangerment of wolves)
- Cry of the Wild (1972)
- Goldwood (1974)
- In Search of the Bowhead Whale (1974) ( Expedition Film )
- Wolf Pack (1974)
- Face of the Earth (1975)
- Path of the Paddle (1977) (film series about paddling technique, honored with the BAFTA Award )
- Song of the Paddle (1978) (Mason Family Canoeing Wilderness Trip)
- Coming Back Alive (1980)
- Pukaskwa National Park (1983)
- The Land that Devours Ships (1984)
- Waterwalker (1984) (feature-length film about Bill Mason's ride on Lake Superior )
painting
Mason expressed many impressions he experienced in nature in his paintings . So almost every time he took his painting equipment with him on his extended canoe tours. Mason painted in oil , the style was based on his great role model William Turner .
Honors
Bill Mason received several honors, including the depiction on Canadian postage stamps in 1998. An honor by the population is the unofficial but widespread designation of a rock spike in the 96 m high Virginia Falls of the Nahanni in Nahanni National Park as "Mason's Rock". Various Canadians based on the shape of the Chestnut Prospector from 1910 bear his name as a series or as a special model. His favorite boat, a canvas -bespannter Prospector is made of wood, in today Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough ( Ontario issued).
Web links
- Bill Mason on his children's side.
- Bill Mason in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mason, Bill |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mason, William Clifford (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian naturalist and conservationist, writer and filmmaker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Winnipeg , Canada |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 29, 1988 |
| Place of death | Meech Lake , Canada |