Death in the Grizzly Maze: The Timothy Treadwell Story

Mike Lapinski, the author, is not that experienced in writing as he is in factual journalism, he's more of a sports writer, not trying to impress, only to inform. To me, this only adds to its charm. I disagree with some others that he swings in the other direction from Nick Jans (The Grizzly Maze) whom they think was too soft on Tim. Mike gives honest accounts based on interviews--including Tim's and Amie's parents. The idea that Tim and his family were estranged is denied by Tim's parents. OK, Nick Jans' Grizzly Maze is more poetic and stylized as becomes a stylistic writer. But Mike Lapinski's roughhewn sports type journalism Jon Krakauer isn't "poetic," either); he's an unpretentious self-effacing journalist whose style is like Jon K's) and kept me interested. He devoted a whole chapter to Amie Huguenard, the other victim, who --as he laments, has been all but forgotten except that she was also killed that day. She was tough, intelligent, selfless but trusted Tim too much and therefore died. She could've probably used bear spray, I thought she did, from a passage in the book.The author give Tim a lot of credit when it is due and criticizes him when he deserved it. By opining that these deaths could have been prevented and that Tim might be bipolar (before it was diagnosed) was brought up by Tim's mom, and it isn't swinging in the other direction. In fact, he gives the dude credit for his courage and the fact that he lasted almost 13 years out thre in the Grizzly maze. After seeing the movie Grizzly Man and watching Tim's histrionics and annoying habit of repeating himself three times ("I would DIE for them" "it's what I'm SAYIN'") three times, cursing the sky and the gods including "that HIndu god" (which one? there are thousands!) until it finally rained, then he turned around and apologized and praised them all! At any rate, Mike is right on in interviewing Tim's counselor who had advised Tim several times to quit what he was doing or he'd get himself killed. But Mike isn't nasty or cruel in his critique, only very honest, and gives excerpts from interviews with people who knew Tim, and swung both ways in their opinions. I rate this one 5 stars because of the rough-hewn honesty of Mike. Both Mike's and Nick Jans' books are great, serve their purpose and, like Rocky and Adrian, "fill gaps." But I prefer the more selfless and no-nonsense, on-task journalism reporting of Mike Lapinski.

Found this book to be just okay. Seemed like a lot of speculation and judgment on the authors part.I was glad to see at least some information about Amie. It is unfortunate Amie tends to be forgotten in most accounts regarding this tragic story. It pains me to think about how frightened she must have been to witness the mauling of Timothy as well as the horrific death she suffered.My opinion is Timothy Treadwell was certainly imperfect in his choices and is not without fault for his horrible end of life. However, it is truly sad Timothy was allowed by National Park employees to engage in irresponsible bear interaction year after year when it was no secret what he was doing and there was plenty of indisputable documented evidence of his interactions readily available. Further, Timothy was all but encouraged to continue these interactions fueled by fame, TV appearances, public speaking engagements and monetary donations to continue.A very troubling story with a predictable heartbreaking end.

This was one of the best written books that I have read about grizzly bear attacks. Full of information, well researched and at times terrifying in its detail. Don't read the end chapters just before bedtime.

I'm very glad I wasn't dissuaded by some of the negative reviews of Lapinski's book on this site. I found it to be a valuable book on the bizarre, and strangely volatile, subject of Timothy Treadwell's death. Lapinski's is a calm, well-researched, and reasonable approach that balances Jans's ( The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell's Fatal Obsession with Alaskan Bears ) somewhat flashier style nicely. There are contradictions of fact and conjecture between these two excellent authors, but the two agree on the most important facts: that Treadwell endangered himself, his girlfriend, and his beloved bears by his risky actions, and that his claims of poaching at Katmai preserve were simply not true. Also, Lapinski's book provides valuable additional information about Amie Huguenard for those of us trying to form a comprehensive picture of these preventable deaths.

The other reviewers are quite correct - this volume is not as good as the Jans book. Jans develops Treadwell's character in much greater detail, although Lapinski does offer more information on Amie. I agree that the bipolar "diagnosis" of Tredwell really doesn't add much to the story. He was obviously a disturbed individual, and we really don't need a DSM analysis of his disturbance.All of that said, if you're interested in bears and/or Treadwell...and I'm mildly interested in Treadwell and passionately interested in bears...this book is an easy read and a valuable one. Yeah the bear spray endorsement could have been left out, but I found it interesting, and for me at least, it settled the question of just how effective something coming out of a spray can could be in foiling a bear attack. Reading that information made me wish I would have had bear spray with me when I've hiked in grizzly country and caused me to resolve that I won't go into those areas again without it.I have not read Treadwell's book although I probably should. I'm sure it's interesting, but the thing that holds me back is that I feel that, given Treadwell's kind of lose relationship with the truth, the reader needs to take his self-told story with a pretty critical eye.By the way, I checked Patagonia's web site, as well as Grizzly People, and it appears that Patagonia no longer sponsors Grizzly People. With respect to Leonardo Dicaprio, it's difficult to tell. His web site doesn't mention the organization, although the Grizzly People site refers to sponsorship by DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way.

This is an unputdownable read. I was riveted by Mike Lapinskis account of the life of Timothy Treadwell. He is fair and unbiased and the book is well researched. If anyone has watched Werner Herzogs film Grizzly Man, and wants further reading, I heartily recommend this book. Superb!

Informative. I did what I thought was an error in it, but who can verify that? One book says one thing, another book says another.But altogether, a worthwhile read

Mike Lapinski's book gives the reader a truthful "real" account of what can and did happen when inexperience, excitement and awe with a powerful living force of nature - Alaskan Brown Bears - combine to produce the tragedy of Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie. It is a stark reminder that even though we, as humans, are on top of the food chain and seem to view wildlife as "ours", naively believing that we can "reason" with and "identify" with wildlife. These bears proved us wrong and brought back the essence of wild in wildlife. Treadwell fell into this illusion and paid a tragic price.Lapinski's experence in the outdoors - both as a conservationist and a hunter bring credibility to the book. He outlines the problems associated with "celebrity" eco-warriors and their inability to accept scientific fact - as produced by a littany of respected bear biologists. He outlines the issues and bureaucratic problems of law enforcement in remote parks as well as the fairness of that enforcement. The book reminds us that the wild should be kept wild, protected and respected for its power and beauty and not as a vehicle for personal fame and publicity.