nA Babe SF LATE RY oe eT TSS

Whe Is...

George Tomlinson?

by Betty Barton

George Tomlinson is a retired
electrical engineer, a man witha
love for the Northwest, and the
author of the recently released
book, Challenge the Wilderness.

Challenge the Wilderness is the
true account of a lifetime com-
mitment of George’s grandpar-
ents, Robert and Alice Tomlin-
son, to bring spiritual, medical
and economic help and under-

- standing to the native people of

northern B.C. and southeast
Alaska. The story is related
through the eyes of their son,
Robert Jr. (George’s father, 1870
- 1959), who witnesses and
experiences the region’s tremen-
dous cultural upheaval and tech-
nological transition.

George Tomlinson, in collabor-
ation with Judith Young, spent
the last several years researching
the wealth of historical data
found in family letters, photos
and tape recordings. This first-
hand documentation served as
the foundation upon which this
book was written. Skeena, River
of Destiny, by Dr. Large, also
incorporates some of Robert
Tomlinson’s stories,

Prior to his retirement, George
Tomlinson was the chairman of
the board and CEO of Valentine,
Fisher & Tomlinson in Seattle,
one of the two largest mechan-

ical and electrical consulting
firms in the northwestern U.S.
Tomlinson joined Valentine and
Fisher in 1960. Valentine retired
in 1980, Fisher in 1982 and
Tomlinson in 1986. He did con-
sulting until last January.

At age 9, George learned the
value of work in a northwest
cannery. With this summer and
after-school job, he earned $500
towards a the purchase of a lot
in Ketchikan in 1939. The
material for Challenge the Wil-
derness takes it to 1939, George
himself wrote the epilogue to
bring the story up to the present.

His mother dicd in 1984.
George started accumulating her
records and interviews with his
father in 1985. He explains,
"Dad wrote little stories. My
mother always wanted to write a
book. She was a great writer and
wrote for various papers. I fell
heir to the project. I wanted a
book that would establish the
environment and atmosphere of
my family and my admiration

for both my grandparents and

parents. Right now, I have a
love affair with my family."
George says he likes to
approach things eycball-to-eyc-
ball, so when he began putting
the book together, he and Judith
Young came up here. They
visited old friends and family
and remembered. places in

Hazelton, Kispiox, Cedarvale,
and Kitwanga. George’s second
cousin Kathy Johnson in Kit-
wanga, daughter of his dad’s
brother Richard and mother of
Terrace resident Judy Degerness,
was pleased to renew their child-
hood acquaintance.

They visited the Cedarvale
general store, built by George’s
father, Robert Jr., as a home to
which he could bring his wife,
Ethel Collins. From there,
Robert moved to Kispiox to
become the Methodist minister.
This is where George was born.
His 50th high school reunion is
now in the planning stages.

George and Judy flew to Kin-

colith, the first time for both of [i

them, to sce the village estab-
lished by Robert Tomlinson Sr.
They went to Mctlakatla, Alaska
where Robert Jr. had served as
lay minister for a number of
years and of which George has
vivid’ childhood memories.
George says, "Judy couldn’t
believe how hospitable the
people were. We. kept a log of
the trip and Judy got.a feel for
the people and the country."
Upon their return, Judy tran-
scribed all the taped interviews
done by George’s mother with
his father. George worked out a
storyboard of the book, chapter
by chapter, About once a week,
they’d meet to check details and

Terrace Review —— Wednesday, November 27, 1991 21

George Tomlinson: Story of upheaval, transition in the

Northwest.

accuracy. George explains, "The
words are Judy’s. We worked
together to portray a very per-
sonal history of an important
time in the history of my family
in this area."

George wrote to a number of
B.C. and American publishers

once the book was ready. He

finally got a positive response
from Great Northwest Publishing.
and Distributing Company: Inc.
in Anchorage, Alaska. The pub-
lisher was the son of a mission-

ary family and felt a very per-

sonal attachment to the subject
matter.

In early October, George
atrived home one evening and
found 500 copies of his newly
published Challenge the Wilder-
ness sitting in his garage. He
says in wonder, "It was just like
giving birth!"

Tomlinson was in the area a
few weeks ago. He explained, "I
want to create an interest in my.
book on this trip." |

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