The Virtual Talking Stick...
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This is a space created to encourage others to share their own personal stories about their connections with Barry, and what they've learned about their own lives along the way. Please feel free to browse those posted here, and also to share yours, by clicking Post a message.
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1 OF 15 of 15 messages Post a message
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Subject: Barry Wakeman Dedication (as of Feb 2008) When: Monday, May 12, 2008 12:00 PM-1:00 PM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada). Where: Education Lobby
We are pleased to announce that a special dedication event to honor Barry Wakeman is being planned for Monday, May 12, at noon. We will meet in the lobby of the Education Building where a statue of Martha will be installed along with a plaque to honor and thank Barry for everything that he did for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Barry was the first director of the Education Department back in the 1970's and many of our staff and volunteers tell wonderful stories about him.
We're excited about creating a memorial to Barry, a man who was so instrumental and important to the beginning of the Zoo's Education Department that serves thousands of tri-state families every year. We hope to see you on May 12. Please spread the word to anyone and everyone who knew and fondly remembers Barry.
Thanks, Thane Maynard
- Zoo Staff - The Cincinnati Zoo
- Tue Feb 19 17:23:19 EDT 2008
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Time is not making the missing easier.Maybe harder. Does he know another grandson is arriving? Does he know we dream about him? Does he know he is loved, missed, remembered, needed?
- Sunshine - The Universe
- Thu Oct 18 20:55:11 EDT 2007
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IT HAS BEEN 2 YEARS SINCE BARRY'S PASSING AND THERE HARDLY A DAY THAT GOES BY THAT MY SON HUNTER DOES NOT SPEAK OF HIM AND WHAT HE HAS TAUGHT HIM. HUNTER DREAMS OF BARRY AND IN THOSE DREAMS HE TEACHES HIM ABOUT NATURE. THANK YOU FOR THAT BARRY. YOU ARE MISSED DEEPLY THANK YOU FOR BEING IN HIS LIFE
- MISTY - MASON,OHIO
- Mon Oct 23 17:51:38 PDT 2006
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Barry WakeMan.
- MiKe - MiKe
- Thu Sep 29 14:58:36 EST 2005
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As with all "JZ's" the passing of Barry touched deeply within all us.A huge void has been left on this planet in his wake. I feel bad for anyone who never met him and spent some quality time with Barry.He left a vivd memory within each person whom he touched. This year in honor of our great mentor and friend we are having the "1st Annual Barry Wakeman Memorial Canoe Trip" at Morgans Canoe Rental in Brookville,Indiana on Saturday ,August 27. Unfortunately this notice is much too late for anyne we were unable to contact. This will be the first of many trips and any JZ's out there who would like to participate in the coming years please forward your email addresses to "cathompson27@att.net" and we will add you to the growing list. Also in the planning stages is the "40th JZ reunion" in 2008 which tentatively will be a canoe trip,(the 4th annual) and a catered dinner at the canoe livery following the trip.To make this as successful as the 20th in 1988 and a superior tribute to Barry, we are trying to touch base with as many JZ's as possible over the next two years from the beginning of the club in 1968 until the end. If you know anyone that was a JZ please contact them and forward an email or physical address as soon as possible. Obviously many of you do not know me and I do not know many of you.There were a tremendous number of club members over the years. I was a JZ from 72'-74' with Mike Dulaney,Doug Feist,Myra Messick,Lesley Mussio,Joe Kappa, Paul Prinzback,Todd and Dawn Strasser and so many other great people as I am sure were many of you.Please help make this a super fantastic tribute to our dear departed teacher,mentor,friend,etc. I hope to hear from many of you and meet many of you as well at the 40th and most likely final large gathering of the fun, fantastic and exciting adventure we all had known as the JUNIOR ZOOLOGISTS CLUB. Cynthia A. Thompson JZ 72'-74'
- Cynthia A.Thompson - Plainfield,Ilinois
- Wed Aug 24 16:27:00 CDT 2005
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It is almost 7 months since Barry's passing, yet I just found out about it tonight. I had lost touch with Barry since moving away from Cincinnati, but as a fomer JZ, I can attest to his larger-than-life presence and the profound influence he had on my life as a teenager.
He helped me develop and focus my love of nature and the natural world. I was fortunate to scuba dive with him in the Virgin Islands, and go on safari with him in Kenya, in the mid-1970's. Largely because of him I followed my love of biology, and have been a high school biology teacher for most of the past 22 years. When I lead a group of kids kayaking, or scuba diving, or just on a nature walk, Barry lurks in the wings, still providing his influence and love of the natural world.
Ironically, I am in the middle of writing a short blurb about someone who influence me as I was growing up for my school's magazine. You guessed it, I'm writing about Barry. So you can imagine my distress upon finding out that he is no longer here!
He'll always be a brick in my foundation. Thanks a million, Barry, for all you did for me and countless other kids.
- Phyllis (Pickle) Robinson - Silver Spring, Maryland
- Sat Apr 9 20:42:37 EDT 2005
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After several months of waiting for a response from a mailing I sent to Barry in October, I thought I'd try again,this morning, in the off-chance it was never received.
He was hardly old, so what could bring this geat bear of a man down?
I was a JZ in the early 70's, and I don't need to elaborate on how life changing that experience was for me.
After that,I would periodically touch base with Barry mainly from some need I had to remain connected. Most recently, Barry and I corresonded by e-mail discussing awareness improvement, which seemed to come so naturally to him; I was in the process of reporting my most recent success.
One thing that won't change is my thinking of him as I witness or do things he would enjoy.
Aside from family, I can think of no one who has so profoundly affected my life than he.
- Mark Franz - Fond du Lac, WI
- Fri Jan 07 2005 07:47:12 GMT-0600 (Central Standard Time)
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There are no words to describe the memories, feelings and mannor in which Barry has changed my life.
He had been my teacher as a young J.Z, and a good friend much later in life as an adult.
As a J.Z.only 12 years old, I traveled to Trinidad and Tobago with Barry to collect insects for the zoo's new insectarium. Along with learning so much about all the natural wonders, he always had a casual, fun loving sense about him. I asked him "Hey, whats that big round thing on that tree?" He said inocently, "I don't know, go poke it with a stick." I learned "Hands On" what south american fire ants were and what they can do. The same day we met two local guys and after a few minites of talking with Barry, they were helping us catch tropical fish and giving us rides on thier water buffalo! Barry always had that special gift.
As his student two years later, I was scuba diving with him in the Bahamas, collecting fish for the zoo, and while I never became a marine biologist, the lessons I learned from Barry have stuck with me the rest of my life.
I was very fortunate to get to know Barry again, as an adult, when he married Trish, or Pat as I have always know her. It was great to see my own children look and listen to him with fascination as he always had some great trick or story to tell. I will miss him very much but I will never forget how he changed my life and the way I look at the natural world.
- Gerry Hillmann - Westerville OH
- Fri Oct 22 14:58:21 EDT 2004
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Barry meant more to me than any teacher that I've encountered. There is no doubt in my mind that his direction has influenced the entire course of my life:
-As a JZ, Barry first took me to Africa (in 1984.) I moved there in 1992 to work for the East African wildlife Society;
-After working in conservation issues, I earned a Master's in Conservation Policy in 1996 in Montana;
-I went onto grizzly bear habitat advocacy and Northern rockies ecosystem protection in the late 90's...
-And finally onto involve myself in Mongolian conservation work. Barry's enthusiasm for the world was so captivating and so precious, that I still hear his humorous, unique drawl as clearly as ever. While I was a JZ and an intern at the insectarium (along with volunteering at the Fricsh's Discovery and Children's Zoo), Barry showed me that I could accomplish amazing things. (Things like lecturing to adult audiences!) He continued to encourage me and engage me. Once, despite my obsession with Jane Goodall, he told me that I could never be a researcher -- "you could never sit still for that long..." He, of course, was right on -- there is no way I ever posessed the patience of a researcher.
Barry was honest and intuitive and knew the strengths and weaknesses of his students. He took education incredibly seriously. I attribute my place today to the seeds that Barry so carefully and deeply planted. I run an organization devoted to combining culture and conservation. We are in the midst of protecting a Mongolian watershed and its resident fish, the taimen, a Mongolian salmon. Along with our research and conservation efforts, we are also rebuilding a Buddhist Monastery. This nexus between culture and conservation was first introduced to me when Barry brought me to Kenya's Masai Mara and drew my attention to the Masai culture and landscape. The was no distinction between culture and landscape. This has always stayed with me -- people, culture and landcape are all connected -- they are one.
Conservation can only be successful when this idea is acknowledged implemented. Barry knew this all along. The world is a bit less joyful and a little less full without Barry. He was loved and will be missed.
- betsy gaines quammen - bozeman, mt
- Mon Oct 11 16:19:40 MDT 2004
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As I think of losing the physical Barry, I cry but in my heart the memories will be cherished forever. Barry gave us the greatest gift of all-himself.
I met Barry in 1975 at the zoo becoming one of the first volunteers. He laughed at me because I was complaining about these awful zebra outfits we were going to wear and he had desisgned them I think. From that moment we built a friendship that was like no other I have had in any other area of my life. When I volunteered my 7 year old daughter would go to the area we called the "book shelf." It took one week for her to catch Barry's eye and they were off and running. Barry had his education drive in full throttle. Tricia was enthralled and excited. She kept a calendar counting the days till she could go again. Soon I was volunteering two days a week to meet her appetite for, "Barry and me." Barry had a group of "Adventures In Zoology" for young people which had disbanded. We spent many hours sitting on those wooden steps outside the ed bldg. talking about rebuilding before it finally happened. Tricia met her lifetime friend Wendy Wente-traveled everywhere, Africa included (i went too,while we were gone, my namesake giraffe, Patricia died giving birth, Barry was the who consoled me). Tricia was 12 when she went on a "wall dive" in the Bahamas-and on that trip I learned later that the plane they flew over on from Lauderdale had part of the floor missing. We (my husband and I) had learned to trust Barry and loved him so much, we laughed. Remember those long talks on the wooden steps-we talked through the 70's-80' almost on a daily basis. I gave him a name of "True Bear" and always called him "Bear" because it almost seemed he could bear anything. When he needed a vent, I would listen his greatest showed even then because he never was bitter about life, just curious. the amount of knowledge given to one person to share cannot be measured unless it is shared. Barry shared his every chance he got. Plus he always reminded me of a big ole' bear eating nuts or something. He could smell bacon frying a mile away, even when we were camping in the clouds in w va. Barry and I shared a special friend through our connections at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Daniel J. Ransoff. Danny was so fond of Barry and it was awful to have lunch with the two. I never got to say a word. Danny was a firm believer in education and many times ask me why the education dept Barry built was not named for him as was all UC listings. I had no answer. Now they have lots of time to jaw.
Another great mutual friend, artist John Ruthven has discussed the same. God in his infinite wisdom rewards those among us who deserve it with love, respect and friends. And Bear had all that. Step aside please-a GREAT ONE IS PASSING! GOOD-BY BEAR I LOVE YOU AND I WILL MISS YOUR PHYSICAL BEING-SAVE ME A PLACE!
- PAT ALLEN - CINCINNATI, OHIO
- Tue Oct 5 07:40:55 PST 2004
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I met Barry when I was a Junior Zoologist. The man was larger than life. We would play rugby games after our nature adventures and there would be 4 or 5 teenagers hanging on him to tackle him. Still he would manage several more strides before falling down. He always seemed to know what rock or log to turn over to find the critter we were stalking. His understanding of the natural world and ability to explain it fascinated me. I will never forget Barry Wakeman.
Farewell There are people in this world whose influence is great The rich man, the leader, the martyr, the saint And then there are people just like me and you Though some are bright stars and their greatness shines through The mentor, the helper, the school coach, the preacher The neighbor, the counselor, a stranger, the teacher Through their sharing and caring we are never the same And for that they are great, not their wealth, nor their fame As I reflect on the past, on great things that they've done I owe thanks to so many and Barry Wakeman was one Farewell
- John Kraimer - Cincinnati
- Mon Oct 4 11:25:48 EDT 2004
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Posted From Email:
Sent: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 04:09:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Tom Murrell Subject: Re: [ohio] Barry Wakeman, True Bear To: "ManKind Project Ohio Discussion"
Thanks, Randy, for sharing from the heart this remarkable man who touched you and so many others. Through you, I have come to know something of him, and through that knowing, I can stand with you and honor him. Namaste, Tom Murrell
- Tom Murrell - Columbus, Ohio
- Thurs Sep 23 16:09:21 EDT 2004
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FROM EMAIL:
Following is a prayer written by the Unity Church's poet laureate, which gives me comfort. "The Traveler" -- by James Dillet Freeman
He has put on invisibility. Dear Lord, I cannot see-- But this I know, although the road ascends And passes from my sight, That there will be no night; That You will take him gently by the hand And lead him on Along the road of life that never ends, And he will find it is not death but dawn. I do not doubt that You are there as here, And You will hold him dear.
Our life did not begin with birth, It is not of the earth; And this that we call death, it is no more Than the opening and closing of a door -- And in Your house how many rooms must be Beyond this one where we rest momently.
Dear Lord, I thank You for the faith that frees, The love that knows it cannot lose its own; The love that, looking through the shadows, sees That You and he and I are ever one!
- Bob Wuest - Cincinnati, Ohio
- Sun Sep 26 20:45:43 EDT 2004
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FROM EMAIL:
Sent: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:44:16 -0400 From: "Bob Wuest" Subject: RE: [ohio] Barry Wakeman, True Bear To: "ManKind Project Ohio Discussion"
Barry Wakeman! Barry Wakeman! Barry Wakeman! I feel sad that Barry is no longer with us. When I sat in Barry's teaching circle, I felt as though I was sitting at the feet of one of the world's great scholars and philosophers -- on the order of Socrates or Plato. His knowledge of the universe was so vast and deep that it was a challenge for me to absorb even a fraction of what he was teaching. He gave me the gift of a real appreciation for metaphysics, and a new understanding of Spirit's presence in this universe. He was truly a man inspired (in-spirit) with fascination and awe of all that is. He had both a remarkable gift and an inner drive to share his life's learnings with others. I was awed and proud to call him a Warrior Brother, though we shared not one Warrior circle, not one ritual together. Just knowing we had both experienced the same sacred rites of passage affirmed my belief in The ManKind Project as a brotherhood of enlightened men. Barry amazed me in many ways. He viewed his illness as an opportunity to discover more about the universe, more about various forms of energy healing techniques. He was fascinated with what he was learning, and it seems to me that he opened to his condition almost as a friend. Never did I hear him speak of his physical challenges with any disdain, any sense of victimhood or sadness. His attitude didn't project courage to me (although I judge he was courageous about it). Rather, it projected grace and elegance and fascination... and a burning desire to learn more about the workings of nature from it. I can imagine that in his moment of passing, he maintained the same attitude with which he lived his life -- that of the the curious, awed observer -- the little boy fascinated with the uniqueness of the event. Barry was a gift from God to humanity, and mother earth. I miss him. And, I take comfort from knowing that he's still among us, though his form has shifted.
Bob Wuest "Perfect Storm", 4/01, Camp Wanatha, Holly, MI (513) 328-1520 "I create a world of peace, love and personal power by encouraging and helping each of us to achieve our Spirit's Greatness".
- Bob Wuest - Cincinnati, Ohio
- Sun Sep 26 20:43:33 EDT 2004
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Sent: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:15 PM EDT From: "Randy Weeks" Subject: Barry Wakeman, True Bear To: Mankind Project - Ohio Center
Men of Ohio,
I would like to put the name of a fellow warrior into our extended circle. -- A warrior who has left us this week.
Barry Wakeman
Barry Wakeman
Barry Wakeman...
A dear friend, mentor, warrior and lover of life made his transition this week from this space to the next.
Barry Wakeman passed on in the early hours of Tuesday morning. His wife says the timing was almost as if he was waiting for the Equinox as his departure time.
He'd been living and working with the symptoms of what appeared, in recent months, to be ALS, though he'd been diagnosed as having a form of Parkinson's almost 2 years ago. Barry was living in that space the same way he'd lived all his eventful life: with an open heart and deep curiosity about all that life presents, no matter what the form or scenario.
As a teacher, he was famous for his playful sense of awe and wonder, for his connections with everything in Nature, and his ability to take people on a rich, diverse nature hike covering any space from a single, thriving square foot of their back yard, or miles into a rain forest. Raised as a kid with "learning disabilities", he connected on his own to the earth as a student of life, and grew into a man who was a living encyclopedia of the natural world, able to transmit his own knowing to his friends and students in ways seldom experienced in this world that knows so few master - apprentice relationships.
It has been my great blessing, one of the very greatest of my life, to have known him as teacher, mentor and friend.
I just finished a long, tender phone conversation with Barry's wife, Trish, and the outpouring of love and stories about Barry have kept her as busy as the preparations for the ceremony being planned for his many friends and family to gather in remembering his life and love and endless giving of himself.
Those of you who have known him, know what a rare and wonderful being he has been in this life. Everyone has a different story, many stories, of how a life was affected by a connection with Barry Wakeman, from the Peace Corps to documentaries, to his work as director of education at the Cincinnati Zoo, to his dome home and farm in Hillsboro and his weekly classes at UC and St. John's Unitarian Church in Clifton.
Dallas Fish told me tonight that Barry literally taught him how to hug, years ago. Bob Wuest knows that the day he and I met in July 2003, our first conversation, about the perfection of nature, how there are no neurotic trees, and how we learn of our own perfection, authenticity and value from observing and connecting to life through the wonders of the natural world, was based a lot on what I'd loved most about Barry's sharing and teaching.
A year ago, at the Cincinnati homecoming ceremony for the Sept 03 NWTA, Barry made it a point to come and celebrate with us, making his first New Warrior connection with many of the men of this community, because he'd not been active in a community, though he went through his NWTA in Minnesota way back in 92 or 93. I had never heard of his New Warrior experience until I told him of mine. I believe his animal name was True Bear.
He'd had so many experiences... he tried almost any event or learning experience that came his way, just to engage life as much as possible.
I heard that Mark Twain once said something to the effect that once one becomes a riverboat captain, he can never see the river in the same way again, never see the mystery that it had before becoming a captain of a vessel...
One of the things I've told friends about Barry in the past came to mind tonight: That he's lived the proof that it is, in fact, possible to be an expert and still embody wonder and childlike awe...
Barry was one of the best known naturalists in his field, an expert of international reputation. He went into the forest and learned all the science, all the technical expertise... and came out the other side with the same excited heart of a little boy, with tears of wonder in his eyes, and a sense of the great possibility that exists for all, in all... And he was able to communicate that wonder and connection to all of us who met and learned from him over the years...
He is still a strong energy among us. AND... I so miss his physical presence at this moment...
I'll post more about the planned memorial service as it is planned and shared. Trish expects it to be in the next 6-9 days, possibly at Spring Grove or other suitable outdoor venue.
Randy Weeks Prairie Fire I create a connected, reconciled community by unclenching my hands, heart and mind, and feeling the ferocious flow of love.
- Randy Weeks - Cincinnati, Ohio
- Wed Sep 22 07:10:25 EDT 2004
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