Dr. David Suzuki
By Peter Mack
scientist, environmentalist and broad caster. He is renowned for his radio and television programs that explain the complexities of the nat- ural sciences in a compelling, easily understood way. If I were to list all of Dr. Suzuki’s
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achievements and awards I would need another 100 pages for this issue. Suffice to say he ‘knows his stuff’ as we say in Australia. Born one hundred percent
Japanese genetically and a third generation Canadian he is im- mensely proud of his dual heritage, a mix that even he finds interesting. He was born in British Columbia 1936 to a loving but not wealthy family. At the onset of World war II even though he, his parents and sis- ters were all born, raised and edu- cated in Canada they were deprived of all rights of citizenship. Everything that his parents had worked for was taken from them and the whole family was sent to what can only be described as a concentration camp in the Rock- ies. When the war ended they were offered two choices. ‘Give up your citizenship and we’ll send you back to Japan or get the hell out of British Columbia.’ They decided to go east of the Rockies and set up home in Ontario. In David’s words (smiling)”You can see why I’m such a screwed up person.” He has a great sense of humour
and laughs easily and wholesomely but the passion emerges when he talks about his work and his family. When he is relaxing he tries to
sleep in the same bed as his wife and not some hotel or motel on the other side of the country or, like too often has been the case, the world. To do this he has cut down on trav- elling and drastically reduced his
avid Suzuki, Co-Founder of the David Suzuki Founda- tion, is an award-winning
own carbon footprint. References to his lifetimes work are never far from the surface. He and his family are heavy duty anglers, campers, hikers and canoeists. They never fish to catch and release they have only ever fished for food and never for sport. Catch and release is against their principles, they be- lieve that if you’re not going to eat it don’t fish for it. David has five children from two
families; four girls and a boy and from his first family there are three teenage grandchildren. His passion at the moment is his new grandson, who is eight months old, and he has taken the ‘Interesting mix’ to a new level in the family’s genetic make up. He is half American Indian and he lives with his daughter and her husband in northern BC. “My wife and I are over the moon with this little boy.” This is a whole new chap- ter in the Suzuki lives as they have all been adopted by the Haida tribe and are completely en- chanted by them. The area where the reserve is has also captivated the family. With less travel and a moderately short distance, he and his wife get to see their daughter and grandson a lot more which is great.” He has a number of fond memo-
ries to relate to but his favourite is about his father who was his hero. He was dying of cancer at eighty five years of age when David moved in with him for what turned out to be the last month of his life. They had many conversations and he never once heard his father talk about his fancy car or buildings or other gains but only about his emo- tional wealth. “David” he used to say “You know; I am a rich man, I have friends, family, neighbours what more can a man want?” He only talked about what they all did together and the enjoyment he re-
ceived from it. His father couldn’t see the point in fancy plasma tele- visions or cars. Still stuck in the sixties and seven-
ties with his music, he reckons he’s in a time warp. Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Credence Clear- water…”That’s my time; I’m stuck there.” He doesn’t read fiction books anymore but receives enjoy- ment from books about and by people he admires. Tim Flannery’s
The Weather Makers is a fantastic
book that he has recently finished. Most of his books are about our relationships with mother earth. After his first visit to Australia in
1989, he fell in love with the country and the people, and has been there a great many times. As the distance is so far, the carbon foot- print so immense, he has cut back on those trips as well as visits to some of the worlds most majestic places, The Amazon, Serengeti, Galapagos, Arctic. His focus is now more on where he lives in BC, and in fact he believes it is one of the most incredible places on the planet anyway. The future holds a number of
things in store for Suzuki but his main target is retirement. He is hoping that his two daughters from his pres- ent marriage will gain their PhD’s and take over the reins of his life’s work. They are both sensationally beautiful and very, very charis- matic and he hopes they will also take over his television program that has been running for over thirty years.
No interview with Dr Suzuki can be complete in such short commen- tary so please go to our website: www.adistinctiveworld.net and go to the David Suzuki page to see Peter’s interview in full including Dr Suzuki’s thoughts on some impor- tant environmental questions.
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