Matthiessen at Texas Bigfoot Conclave
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 13th, 2009
The 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference will be held in Tyler, Texas, September 26, 2009, 8:30 A.M. to 6:15 P.M. The conference will be at the Caldwell Auditorium, located at:
300 S. College Ave.
Tyler, TX 75702
The fundraiser banquet dinner will be from 7:30 P.M to 9:30 P.M. with a special presentation by wildlife author and naturalist Peter Matthiessen. The dinner will be held at the Tyler Discovery Science Place, located at:
308 N. Broadway Ave.
Tyler, TX 75702
General admission is $15.
The schedule for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference:
Doors open at 8:30 AM
09:00 – 09:05: Brian Brown – Official Greeting, Announcements
09:05 – 09:35: Daryl Colyer – TBRC Investigator
09:40 – 10:10: Jerry Hestand – TBRC Investigator
10:15 – 10:45: Alton Higgins – TBRC Wildlife Biologist
10:50 – 11:30: Esteban Sarmiento – Primate Biologist
11:35 – 11:45: Peter Matthiessen – wildlife author, naturalist – intro
11:45 – 1:00: Lunch break (off campus; food and drink is not allowed in Caldwell Auditorium)
1:00 – 1:15: Robert Swain, artist – discussion of his work
1:20 – 2:00: John Bindernagel – Wildlife Biologist
2:05 – 2:20: Intermission
2:20 – 3:00: Chris Bader and Carson Mencken – Baylor University Sociologists
3:05 – 3:45: John Mioncynzski – Wildlife Biologist, naturalist
3:50 – 4:00: Intermission/Raffle/Panel Setup
4:05 – 4:45: Keith Foster – Rocky Mountain researcher
4:50 – 5:30: Bill Dranginis – Developer of non-intrusive “Eye Gotcha” photographic system
5:30 – 6:15: Panel Discussion moderated by Brian Brown
7:30 – 8:30: Fundraiser Banquet dinner
8:30 – 9:30: Peter Matthiessen at the Banquet
Both Craig Woolheater and Loren Coleman from Cryptomundo will be in attendance, available to meet friends, obtain quotable moments, and give media interviews.
The TBRC is funded by membership dues, fundraisers, and the annual Texas Bigfoot Conference, in addition to donations and grants. The TBRC desires to enhance the credibility of Bigfoot/Sasquatch research and facilitate a greater degree of acceptance by the scientific community and other segments of society of the likelihood of a biological basis behind the Sasquatch mystery.
The host hotel for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference is:
Tyler Sleep Inn and Suites
5555 South Donnybrook Avenue
Tyler, Texas 75703
903-581-8646
$89
Ask for a room for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference (to obtain the group rate).
For those planning to attend, it is recommended that hotel rooms be reserved well in advance. In order to qualify for the discounted price of $89 plus tax, the hotel needs to know that the person or group is in town for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference. The Sleep Inn and Suites will provide a complimentary hot buffet breakfast and a meeting room for Conference attendees.
The overflow hotels are:
Baymont Inn and Suites
3913 Frankston Highway
Tyler, Texas 75701
903-939-0100
$89.99
Ask for a room 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference (to obtain the group rate).
Comfort Suites
303 E. Rieck Road
Tyler, Texas 75703
903-534-0999
$94.99
Ask for a room for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference (to obtain the group rate).
Country Inn and Suites
6702 South Broadway
Tyler, Texas 75703
903-581-0863
$94.99
Ask for a room for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference (to obtain the group rate).
To pre-register and pre-pay for the Conference, click here.
See ya all there!
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Matthiessen was the subject of a PBS documentary aired earlier this year called Peter Matthiessen: No Boundaries.
For more on the article about Matthiessen and the documentary, see here.
It’s pretty amazing and significant that Matthiessen, one of the most important writers of our time, is associating himself with such an event thought to be “kooky” by the mainstream. This cannot be overlooked.
Matthiessen not only was in the Himalayas and heard about the Yeti presumably, he is on record talking about the place of Bigfoot in Indian Country, among contemporary Native Americans.
LanceFoster:
“Matthiessen not only was in the Himalayas and heard about the Yeti presumably, …”
Oh, a little better than that. He thinks he may have seen one.
Read “The Snow Leopard,” his 1979 magnum opus, in which there is much very open-minded discussion of the yeti. His companion on that trip, the eminent zoologist George Schaller, announces in the book his conviction that a species unknown to science made the famous “Shipton track,” which remains the single most prominent known piece of yeti evidence.
In “The Snow Leopard,” Matthiessen seems more skeptical about the sasquatch. But his background both as a naturalist and as a practitioner of Eastern religions and an acquaintance with their associated mystical experiences makes him a remarkable blend of hard-nosed and open-minded. I would expect him to have gotten up to speed on the sasquatch since, and to have altered his stance. Based, of course, on evidence, as are his thoughts about the yeti.
Good evening Cryptos…
The TBRC conference is worth the trip and expense. I strongly encourage folks to attend, meet and greet…a great opportunity to network with southern sasquatchery.
The Tex Mex and a few dos equis at Posadas is well worth the trip…muy bien I will try my damndest to be there this year, sorry about missing last year, especially when Alton was buying.
live and let live…
ole bub and the dawgs
Here’s something from The Snow Leopard:
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But as with the sasquatch of the vast rain forests of the Pacific Northwest, the case against the existence of the yeti – entirely speculative, and necessarily based on assumptions of foolishness or mendacity in many observers of good reputation – is even less “scientific” than the evidence that it exists. Photographs and casts of the yeti footprint are consistent – a very odd, broad primate foot – and so are the sight records, most of which come from the populous Sherpa country of eastern Nepal.
————————————————————–
Again, he’s a bit more skeptical about the sasquatch. As of the time of this book, that is.
But from what I’ve read of Matthiessen, he’d be the last person to support primate-chasing in Texas if he didn’t think it was worthwhile to do. Mystical as some of his pursuits may be, he’s proof that that says nothing about one’s orientation toward science and interpretation of evidence.
And I can’t help but add this sentence from the book, apropos a number of conversations we’ve had here:
“Perhaps the best way to find Bigfoot is to set up camp in a likely region and live there quietly until this creature, in its primate curiosity, makes a few investigations of its own.”
Bingo. TBRC researchers can attest to this, as can the members of at least one yeti expedtion. The key is to fund them so that they can stay on site for the critter’s followup visits.
I think I’m coming this year. To the conference, I mean. Unless someone wants to fund me for that lengthy backcountry stay. 😉
Good thing that Matthiessen is at least open to the possibility of the Yeti and Bigfoot. And thank you, DWA, for quoting from his books. I’ve never read one of them. I’ll probably start reading the man after I get through other books I’m sifting through. And I agree with Matthiessen about the way to catch Ole Hairy. Sounds commonsensical and practical to me.