As an independent journalist, Bob MacKenzie writes articles for a number of print and internet publications. The local and national scope of his articles for the Kingston Net Times, the Kingston Business Journal, and other publications make them of interest to readers not just in Kingston but across North America. This article is reprinted here for your information. All material included in this page is copyright © Bob MacKenzie, 1996. No reproduction for any reason is allowed without prior permission in writing from the author.

The article below was published on the internet in the Kingston Net Times.

Project Grizzly

Directed by Peter Lynch

1996

72 minutes

Rated PG

Some people might think Troy Hurtubise is more than a little crazy. Troy wants to meet a grizzly bear. Up close. Face to face. It seems that, seven years back, Troy was out for a walk and he met a big grizzly he calls "The Old Man." Having survived that experience, Troy wants to meet more grizzlies. He is now up to model six of the space-suit style protective suit he modelled after the character in the movie, "RoboCop." As research, Troy hangs out on the town dump with a tribe of brown bears. So Troy gets some friends together and goes on an expedition into the Rocky Mountains looking for bears.

This is the sort of idea Hollywood moguls would turn down before the writer had told half the story. But there's a catch. The story is true. Troy Hurtubise is a 32 year old scrap metal dealer from North Bay, Ontario who, based on some time spent studying Natural Sciences at Sir Sanford Fleming College plus his chance meeting with "The Old Man," claims to be a bear expert.

Hurtubise is a charismatic character who quit school at age sixteen but returned six years later to complete his education and become a conservationist, bear behavioural specialist, and parks and forest recreation technologist. In August of 1984, he survived a grizzly attack in Northern British Columbia -- the encounter with "The Old Man." This is the stuff of legends.

However, none of this is what makes this documentary, produced by the National Film Board, both interesting and a joy to watch.

Troy Hurtubise is a delightful, charismatic man with a natural talent as an entertainer and raconteur. Better yet, the camera loves him. He looks and sounds like a star. In the United States, this man would become an instant heart-throb, able to eak out a living on talk shows based on this one documentary. In Canada, he will more likely continue selling scrap metal and building protective suits in hopes of an encounter with a grizzly

As NFB documentaries -- almost all high quality and interesting -- go, Project Grizzly stands out as a must-see film.