Customer Reviews

The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell's Fatal Obsession with Alaskan Bears

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I live in Kodiak Alaska and am proud to associate myself and my fellow islanders as good neighbors to the Brown bear. Unfortunately Mr. Treadwell did not feel the same and felt it was appropriate to intrude on the these wild but magnificant creatures. This turned out to be a deadly mistake to both human and bear alike.

When Timothy Treadwell and his friend, Amie Huguenard were killed in October 2003 at the Katmai National Park most people from Kodiak had no idea who he was. The conservationist and the Park personnel however did. A lot of anger erupted over this incident due to Treadwell's encroachment of the bears and I found myself getting angrier and angrier the more I learned about this man who felt he was a "bear whisperer" when in fact he was self serving and obviously ignorant of the fact that if he was killed the bears would pay the ultimate price.

Jans does a fantastic job telling this story. He is a very good writer and the book is an easy read. He is fair and balanced and he goes a long way to put closure of this incident for many people. He tells it all. The good, bad and ugly. He approached his research in a respectful and scientific way. He was able to gain the trust of the locals here (no easy feat) who shared with him their knowledge of bears and the people involved. Jans does a magnificant job telling the story and due to his prior experiences in Alaska he was able to explain much of Treadwell's actions which helped me channel much of the anger I had over this incident into a deeper understanding of Mr. Treadwell's actions. Jans does this the same way Jon Krakauer did with the main character from his best selling book, Into The Wilds. I felt the negative emotions I had over this experience disappearing and learned even more about our neighbors, the bears and have even more respect for them now. I very rarely give a book 5-stars but I read this book in a single day and just couldn't put it down.

The afterward requires the reader to pay very close attention to the material Jans presents on black and brown bear attacks. One can gather lots of useful information by reading this closely and studying the graphs. Jans seems to be empathetic to the reader knowing he is dumping a lot of material on us but in the end it is worth it. The reader just needs to be patient. He even summarizes the chapter which really helped put it together for me and should be required knowledge for all who trek in the wilds.

I was very fortunate that I got to meet Mr. Jans at a local presentation and this really added to the overall enjoyment of the book. He is very friendly and speaks well and a wonderful story teller. I highly recommend this book to those who want to learn more about bear behavior and what happens when humans interfere with the laws of nature.

One day in 1999, as I was channel surfing, I came across a documentary on the Discovery Channel entitled "Grizzly Diaries" which was ostensibly about Alaskan bears. Being that I've had a long interest with both Alaska and bears, I stopped my channel surfing to watch the show. I was therefore treated to the stupifying antics of one Timothy Treadwell of Malibu! As I sat there with my mouth agape staring in disbelief at the bizarre, reckless behavior of this effeminate-sounding wanna-be Grizzly Adams, I was saying to myself: "This man is nuts! And he's going to get himself killed!" Thus, when the news came in October 2003 that Treadwell had indeed been killed by a bear, it sparked an interest to learn more about this man and the events of his death. Nick Jans' book, "The Grizzly Maze," is an entertaining and satisfying reading experience for those interested in Mr. Treadwell.

As other reviewers have noted, Jans is a gifted writer and his laid-back, folksy style is a pleasure to read. I finished this book in two days- it's so well written that it makes an already interesting topic even more fascinating.

Jans attempts to be has evenhanded as possible with his controversial subject. To many people, especially most Alaskans, Treadwell was a benighted greenie interloper who got his ecological comeuppance for trying to make "nicey-nice" with the bears. To others, Treadwell was a heroic eco-warrior who lived a full passionate life that mundane souls can only dream about. Jans finds truths in both of those viewpoints.

Jans finds a lot about Treadwell to admire and, in fact, sees a lot similarities between himself and Timothy. He clearly admires Treadwell's passion, his drive, his refusal to settle, and, above all, his sheer guts! He also discovers through interviews with Treadwell's few Alaskan friends that he was not as naive about bears as his public persona let on. According to his friends, Treadwell had developed a real expertise in recognizing bear behavior. The fact that he was able to live among them for thirteen years speaks volumes that the man knew what he was doing. He was also fully aware that some bears were very dangerous and took precautions to avoid confrontations. Finally, Treadwell's passion was undeniable- thirteen years spent soaking wet, bug-bitten in some of the toughest wilderness on planet shows a man driven by a lot more than a lust for publicity.

However, Jans' book provides plenty of ammunition for those who did not hold a high opinion of Mr. Treadwell. In some ways, Treadwell had the mentality of a con artist. He had no qualms of lying to people about his background- this native NYer with his family still alive and well on Long Island had no problem telling people he was a British orphan or from Australia. This leads to Treadwell's most controversial claim that he was defending endangered bears from hordes of ruthless poachers. It was this claim that still infuriates Alaskans and the National Park Service. And it is this claim that his supporters still fervently believe. Jans shows that the facts demonstrate that Treadwell was either lying or delusional. The bears he was allegedly protecting were in not endangered in anyway and that poaching was non-existant in the areas he frequented. Not even Treadwell's few Alaskan friends bought his stories about poachers. To Jans, the only people who bought Treadwell's poaching stories were well-meaning, but gullible greenies in the lower 48.

So if Treadwell was not providing protection to the bears then what was he doing? According to Jans, Treadwell simply just wanted to be friends with the bears. However, that leads to the question to what purpose would that lead? In the end, it leads to death of the bears- habituating them to humans makes them either dangerous or vulnerable. And that led to what happened during a rainstorm on October 5, 2003. Jans' model for what happened is very plausible based on the known facts. Further, the grisly details of the aftermath are not for the faint of heart- descriptions of the remains of the bodies and the contents of a bear's stomach are described.

Jans' book is a terrific entry to what seems to be a growing cult of interest in the life and death of Timothy Treadwell which has already seen numerous articles, two books, and two documentary films.

This is definitely a book that's hard to put down. Jans has an easy style of writing, not overly florid, yet descriptive. He has clearly bent over backward to approach the subject of the "bear whisperer" with a fair and open mind, giving great consideration to all the various viewpoints that Treadwell inspired.

Those who think Timonthy was solely an egotistical fool, and those who are just as sure he was a blameless hero, should skip this book. All others should be fascinated by the story's complexities and frustrating contradictions.

Personally, I think the "Timothy must save bears from poachers" defense of his actions are way overblown (the only photo that he put forth of a poacher hunting one of his bears, was actually just a pic he shot of an unknowing friend walking with his rifle on his way home -- illustrating that Treadwell had no problem manipulating the truth for his/the bears supposed benefit.)

There are probably only two "truths" to come out of this story: Timothy Treadwell loved grizzly bears. And grizzly bears just want to be left alone to live their lives as intended... and that includes being spared the unwanted presence of bear worshippers.

In the end, these were not "Timothy's bears". They are not Mr. Chocolate and Downy and Cupcake. They never were. They are bears. Wild bears -- and their lives go on without Timothy, just as they always have.

The Grizzly Maze by Nick Jans is an excellent treatment of a the life and death of Timothy Treadwell. I have been reading Jans's essays and articles for a long time and have always found his writing to be both thoughtful and thought provoking. In The Grizzly Maze, he delves deeply into the life of Treadwell to seek to understand Treadwell's "fatal obsession."

I lived in Alaska for many years and when I first heard of Treadwell and Huguenard's deaths, my first reaction was, "What do you expect?" And I thought Jans might have a similar attitude - being also a long time Alaskan and a man experienced in the ways of bears. I was wrong about Jans. He wrote with a grudging admiration of the courage Treadwell must have had to survive as long as he did among the bears of Katmai.

The book is extensively researched. It seems Jans talked with everyone connected in any way with Treadwell and the investigation of his killing. The chapters dealing with Treadwell and Huguenard's last days and the discovery of their deaths are particulary well done. Jans provides the reader with a gripping moment by moment tale of what might have happened to Timothy and Amie.

Although the story culminates in a tragedy - two humans and two bears killed - Jans's wry sense of humor and narrative skill made the read very enjoyable. A few examples -

(Reflecting the attitude of the Park Service)

"And there's Timothy Treadwell, alone, plunked down at the epicenter of bear town, like he's home on the Barcalounger."

"You don't crowd or habituate bears and contaminate your study area by interacting with them. You don't treat them like people in furry suits. You sure as hell don't sing or talk to them."

The second half of the book surprised me a bit. Jans leaves the Treadwell story to deal with the issue of human/bear relations in general. And here Jans not only draws on what history and the experts say but his own nearly three decades of experiences and reflections on man and bears. His own journey seemed to mirror the last couple of hundred years of man's attitudes toward bears. From "shoot now!!" to a respectful coexistence. Jans's account is very personal and informed by years of encounters with grizzlies.

And again, his wordplay made me look forward to every page.

(Writing about bear safety)
"The problem is that food is one hell of a motivator to your average bear, who's totally capable of peeling the door off an SUV like a hunk of foil off a candy bar if something inside smells tasty enough."

"But still, many people have avoided bears, especially brown/grizzlies, by climbing a nearby spruce or birch. How high should you go? Don't worry. That detail will work itself out, and probably will precisely coincide with the height of your chosen tree."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly. It is not just a book about this one man and his love affair with grizzlies; it is not just about how to survive a bear attack; it is a well written and thoughtful attempt to describe why people and bears do what we (and they) do to each other and ourselves.

Mention Timothy Treadwell and you'll get as many different opinions as the number of people you talk to. That was one point I took from this chronicle of the death and life of Treadwell, a well-publicized bear attack that resulted in the death of Treadwell and his companion, Amie Huguenald in October 2003. Nick Jans was one of the first journalists on the scene as well as being a wildlife photographer and former hunter himself, a true advantage that helps to give both sides of the Treadwell controversy. Jans explores the background of Treadwell's life and what he might have really been after, the question of whether he was really in tune with bears or a very charismatic con-man, the question and ethics of human involvement with wildlife and the myths and legends of the bear in human imagination and some hard scientific data to give further insight. For someone who wants to understand a bit more of the 'eco' movements where wildlife is concerned, this tries to give both sides of the argument and leaves final judgement up to the reader themselves. A good, solid four star read, and I am looking forward to seeing 'Grizzly Man' when it is shown on the Discovery channel.

I really liked "The Grizzly Maze" by Nick Jans. Jans uses an engaging style that invites readers on his journalistic expedition to identify and understand the multiple strengths, weaknesses, and personalities of pseudo-researcher Timothy Treadwell. Unlike the predominantly factual, yet worthwhile treatment in Lapinski's "Death in the Grizzly Maze," Jans' writing style weaves a thoughtful perspective on the life and times of Timothy Treadwell through Jans' own maze of introspective self-examinations. Jans also exhausts the supply of park rangers, biologists, bush pilots, school chums, and co-workers who gave him interviews from New York to California to Alaska.

Jans boils down the numerous interviews and renders information in a sometimes narrative, sometimes reflective style that documents Treadwell's dedication and courage, his brief rise to Hollywood celebrity as an "eco-warrior," his glaring lapses of integrity, and his sudden yet predictable fall into a self-inflicted bear attack statistic. I liked how Jans obtained an interview with a frustrated federal wildlife biologist. According to Jans, most of the Katmai National Park personnel that he interviewed were hesitant to truly express themselves in the bright focus of the public spotlight. So Jans provided anonymity to at least one of them. The result is a point-blank honest interview unlike any that I've found elsewhere. It reveals the extreme frustration of a career bear researcher who for thirteen years observed Treadwell hyping non-existent poaching and pressuring bears that he had "basically hijacked to satisfy his own agenda."

Jans documents the physical and mental toughness that Treadwell demonstrated during months alone in the Katmai wilderness. It's a toughness that prompts Jans and other Alaskans to openly wonder, "What sort of man would do that?" And of course Jans attempts to analyze Treadwell's final disaster in the grizzly maze. Interestingly, he (like Lapinski) concludes that the giant bear 141 wasn't the one that killed Treadwell and that a smaller subadult bear probably did it. Jans explained Treadwell's Achilles' heel, an intellectual "disconnect" between fact and fiction that the sometimes lucid Treadwell never conquered. This fault was overlooked by most of his fan base in Malibu, but not by the bears in the grizzly maze.

My only complaint is that I found myself wishing that somewhere along the line Jans had devoted a chapter to describe Amie's Huguenard's quiet, steady approach to the life that culminated in her support and dedication to Grizzly People and Timothy Treadwell. She followed Treadwell into a risky grizzly bear experiment designed by a man who anthropomorphized the brown/grizzly bears that he followed. I understand that Treadwell was the lightning rod and Amie was the girlfriend, but many people consider her death more of a tragedy than Timothy's, to put it mildly. Jans, however, does sprinkle just enough trailcrumbs for us to see that Amie understood better than Treadwell the unnecessary danger they presented to the habituated bears. Jans points out that Treadwell did not reciprocate her support and that he was characteristically distancing himself from her during their last trip. How could we not see Amie's death as all the more tragic than Treadwell's? Not only did she sacrifice a real life of true service to her community just to be with the delusional Treadwell, but at the bitter end she was the one left alone in the mud to deal with his real life stressed out bears.

This is a compelling book. Far above just another bear mauling tale.

Nick Jans has done his homework; in interviews and on location--and more impressive to me-years in the proximity of bears.
I'm a friend of Nick's, and as a result both more supportive and more critical of his work than the average reader. I was lucky enough to watch his process. In October 2003 he started with the exact information all us Alaskans had-that generic and ungenerous initial buzz: Hey, hear about the blond Californian eaten by a brown bear?

Within days he'd been to the site by floatplane. In a week he knew the last words uttered by this eaten man, Treadwell; he was following tracks to hundreds of stories that had taken place over decades, from one end of the country to the other, from the David Letterman Show to down the way Kodiak Island. And in that time something essential to crafting a story of this quality took place: Nick's generous nature merged with his driving curiosity. He genuinely wanted to know Treadwell. He liked him for who he was. He accepted a range of perspectives of Treadwell--as a freak, as a shaman, as a man braver than the one-in-a-million of us regular folk-to figure out who this eccentric human had been.

While I couldn't necessarily agree with these perspectives, (I never met Timothy Treadwell, nor had previously even heard of him) I believe this generosity shines through as the foundation of this excellent book. I'm envious of Nick, blending research with hard-earned time out on the land with brown bears, and in the process leapfrogging a bunch of us, actually becoming an expert on these creatures. This became obvious when he'd ask me an occasional question. I found my typical response-- Oh, I guess the bear acted a little strange trying to get in the door...seemed to taste fine though.-as one-dimensional, narrow, really not informed at all.

Nick Jans wove it all together-Treadwell with his real smile and fake past, bears and more bears, and his own experiences--with deftness and dedication.

Nick Jans has done what no one else has yet been able to do. He has cut through the sensationalism of television hype and pseudo-documentary film accounts portraying the death of Timothy Treadwell and his life among the brown bears of Katmai. Through this wonderfully crafted and meticulously researched book, Mr. Jans gives the most credible and informative narrative of the circumstances, the statistics and facts, and the animals and the people surrounding the often-controversial death of Treadwell. He brings unmatched clarity to what has become a blurrred and muddled picture in recent years.

Mr. Jans examines both the facts and the emotional struggles of both Treadwell's supporters and his critics with a very balanced hand and amazing sensitivity. He provides an insightful look into the motivation behind Treadwell and the resulting evolution of his actions and methods in the wild. He examines our own fascination with bears, their habitat and their complex behavior.

It is a perspective that no one else in media - written or visual - has yet matched or presented. The facts are fascinating and compelling; the voices of friends, experts, and critics are moving and riveting; the descriptions of places and events are amazingly visual. It was difficult to put this book down, and often difficult to fall asleep in the quiet of the night as a branch scratched against the window ...

Turn off the TV and forget the movie - read this book.

More than any other book that is out there, Nick Jans maintains a journalistic approach to Timothy Treadwell. Jans does occasionally throw out theories but for the most part he tries to professionally report both sides of the story which seems hard when it comes to Treadwell. Certainly he uses far less conjecture than Mike Lapinski does in his "Death in the Grizzly Maze."

Another thing I liked about this book is that it can stand on it's own. "Among Grizzlies" is by it's nature not a fully honest book, it is more an attempt to project the vision that Treadwell and Pavolak wants to create. "Death in the Grizzly Maze" is almost a book report based on "Among Grizzlies." This book tells the whole story in a fairly unbiased, fact based way. If you want to know the whole Treadwell story, this is the best out there.

If you want a better chance to make up your own mind on Treadwell, see the Werner Herzog documentary "Grizzly Man." Again it is an edited presentation, but you can see and hear Treadwell which for me, gave me a much better look into his phyche.

Nick Jans has produced a highly readable account of the strange life and even stranger (though one could argue not unexpected) death of Timothy Treadwell. Along the way, Jans explores the questions of Treadwell's obsession with the Alaskan Brown Bears, the seemingly unwarranted need for his self-assumed role of eco-protector as justification for outlandish behavior and our tendency towards the anthropomorphzing of wildlife in general. A highly recommended read, The Grizzly Maze is an excellent companion to John Krakeur's Into the Wild as both works share thematic questions.

In the end many of questions raised by Jans with regard to Treadwell's fatal choices can never be fully answered, but the very act of exploring them proves highly intriguing.