“It’s still possible to catch a glimpse of what that wilderness used to be,” says the Canadian filmmaker, painter, author, and conservationist Bill Mason in the opening narration for his cinematic magnum opus, Waterwalker, which turns 40 this year. “And I think the best way to do that is in a canoe, the most beautiful and functional craft ever created.”
Mason was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1929. His lifelong fixations were evident early on. By the age of two, he was displaying extraordinary artistic gifts, but he flunked first grade for having done little more than draw pictures of canoes while in class.
