Page 23 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Jan-Feb 2018, Vol 27, No 1

The Man Who Created Bigfoot 23

The Man Who Created

Bigfoot

Continued from Page 21

When he finished, the room rose to its
feet.
“They just stood up and applauded and
applauded,” Gimlin says. “I thought, ‘Why have
I gone 35 years through a bunch of ridicule?’”
Gimlin appears at conventions across the
country. He signs shirts and plaster foot casts,
tells and retells the story of he and Patterson’s
encounter. He is no stranger to standing
ovations.
“They want to talk to me, they want to
tell me about their experience,” he says. “This
turned my whole life around.”
At home in Central Washington,
however, Gimlin is no celebrity. When I visited
him this past spring, we took a drive through The boy’s account is practically devoted Buffalo Museum of Science, the Technē
Wapato, just south of Yakima, to see the house to Bigfoot. There are photos from the Portland Institute for Arts and Emerging Technologies at
where he grew up, only to find a field of weeds event, old pictures of Roger Patterson, shots of UB, and the UB College of Arts and Sciences.
where it once stood. His high school is gone, book covers adorned with furry beasts and more The event series acts as an ongoing
too. Panaderias and taquerias dot the streets he of giant foot casts on his bedroom carpet. conversation about endless topics across all
once knew. As he idled on one street, people on It’s just one small example of Gimlin’s disciplines, typically bringing together artists
the sidewalk turned to look at the cowboy in his outsized impact on American lore. The Internet and scientists to discuss how their work
truck, staring at him as if he’d just dropped in has exposed people to the Patterson’s and illuminates a common theme. The series’
from outer space. Gimlin’s journey in ways unimaginable to underlying premise is that intellectual pursuits
Gimlin’s days are typical retired-rancher Gimlin, and continues to enchant new that appear distinct actually cross paths far more
stuff: he wakes at 5 a.m. every morning on his generations of believers. Whether or not any of often than presumed and share spheres of
modest 1,500-square-foot home that sits on two the stories are true, Bigfoot is alive and well. In interest and meaning.
acres in town. He leases land around the Yakima large part, that’s because Gimlin, the non- The cabaret was launched in October
area where he grazes his seven horses. He mows believer, an unlikely champion of the myth, 2009 by Gary Nickard, UB clinical associate
his pastures on a riding mower and tends to his helped catch a glimpse of it on film. professor of art; Will Kinney, UB physics
garden of cucumbers and tomatoes. At night he In one post, the boy splits the frame in professor; and John Massier, visual arts curator
watches UFC fights. He’s a member of several thirds, filling each with photos of Roger at Hallwalls, out of their collective interest in
local equestrian clubs. Patterson’s gravestone. “We never forget he was art, science, critical thinking and creativity.
Three days a week, Gimlin drives his our Bigfoot hunter,” he writes. A portion of In true cabaret fashion, Nickell’s
black pickup—one with a Bigfoot sticker in a another caption reads: “I met Bob Gimlin…it presentation will highlight the art and craft of
tinted back window and Bigfoot air freshener was a best day ever #bobgimlin.” [] critical thinking as applied to areas of
tucked into a cup holder—into town for physical investigation and research that are both dramatic
therapy. In the 1990s, Gimlin was bucked off a ‘Paranormal’ investigator and hyperbolic.
horse and told by a doctor he’d never ride again. As Massier says, “Joe Nickell’s
“I proved I could do it,” he says. But then, in the Nickell to headline next investigative and research pedigree is broad and
early 2000s, he went sailing off another horse. Science & Art Cabaret gigantic, and his knowledge of the field
He had his bicep removed from his left arm and extremely deep. We know his presentation will
nearly lost all ability to use it. He lifts light give great clarity to the tools of critical thinking
dumbbells now, an attempt to regain some www.buffalo.edu and skepticism as used in considering subjects
feeling. many often take at face value or believe in too
Every couple of months, he travels to Buffalo's Science & Art Cabaret will feature a readily.
address another congregation of the faithful. single speaker at its next event on Feb. 7: “Our cabaret has always had an ongoing
People of every age and shape packed inside a paranormal investigator Joe Nickell, a senior theme of the value of critical thinking, and we
Portland beerhall on a Friday night this past research fellow of the Amherst-based know Joe’s experiences and insight will give
January to see Gimlin speak. He told the story Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a former great texture to this theme,” he says. “It should
he’s told a hundred times before, from the stage magician and private detective. be a telling cue to our audience that Joe has
beginning: bumping into Patterson at the service Utilizing his eclectic background, placed the word ‘paranormal’ within quotations
station; the bright fall leaves; the creature Nickell has become widely known as an marks. True believers may have their belief
glancing over its shoulder; the conversation at investigator of myths and mysteries, frauds, systems challenged.”
Patterson’s bedside hours before he died. forgeries and hoaxes. To date, the cabaret has presented dozens
Afterwards, Gimlin stuck around to take At the cabaret, Nickell will give a talk of subjects and speakers across many fields,
pictures and sign autographs. A boy in a red that provides a revealing and entertaining look at with such themes as “The Man Machine,”
plaid shirt and a cowboy hat holding a 16mm such mysterious phenomena as the ghost at the “Modularity,” “Nothing,” “Love Yer Brain,”
Cine Kodak camera—like the one used to shoot Mackenzie House in Toronto and cases of “Color” and “Are We Special?” A full listing of
the Patterson-Gimlin film—and a plaster alleged spontaneous human combustion from past cabaret events can be found online.
footprint cast approached him for a photo. the speaker’s own case files — all examined The cabaret will return to its usual multi-
A few months later, while doing research from the scientific point of view. speaker format for its next planned event on
for this article, I absentmindedly search The event, “Investigating ‘Paranormal’ March 28, which is expected to tackle the theme
“#pattersongimlin” on Instagram. A familiar Mysteries,” will begin at 7 p.m. at The 9th Ward of “Death.” []
face pops up on my screen. It’s that boy in the at Babeville, 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo. The ‘X’ Zone Radio Show
cowboy hat from January who got a photo with Admission is free and there will be a cash bar. with Rob McConnell
his hero, Bob Gimlin. The Science & Art Cabaret is presented by
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, the www.xzoneradiotv.com