EKOS Communications, Inc.

Given David Suzuki's passionate and highly public defense of old growth forests, many people will be surprised to learn that he believes he has taken trees for granted for most of his life. A zoologist by choice and training, Suzuki freely admits that forests were of interest to him primarily for the habitat they provide for animals. So what motivated him to write "Tree: A Life History" his most recent book? "It was a single tree near my island cottage that finally moved me to realize what a marvel a tree is," he declares in the book's introduction. The tree in question is a centuries old Douglas-fir that towers above a beach that he and his family frequent. "That tree has endured our activities, provided shade, fed squirrels and chipmunks, and harbored eagles and ravens, but it always hovered on the periphery of our consciousness," confesses Suzuki, before revealing his epiphany. "One day, I lazily gazed at the misshapen trunk of that tree and realized with a shock that hundreds of years ago, when it was just starting to grow - say, about the time Issac Newton observed an apple falling from a tree in England - the land on which the tree first germinated must have slumped toward the beach, tilting the tree out on an angle over the sand. The young stem had to alter its growth pattern to keep climbing upward to the light. Years later, another slide of the land must have dropped the tree trunk further so that it was horizontal, while the upward curve had to compensate yet again to become vertical. That tree was mute evidence of history." This realization shakes Suzuki out of his complacency and immerses him in the ways of a wonderous lifeform, from its likely fire-induced birth to its probable lingering demise. The following interview with David Suzuki is split into 8 smaller sections which take "Tree: A Life History" as a starting point, but very quickly branch out (no pun intended!) to address topics either lightly touched on or not all, such as the dangers of biogenetic engineering or the lessons that can be drawn from the death of Terry Fox and a possible link to the drug he was given. You'll also likely take great delight in his keen sense of humour as he pantomines a sex-crazed female pig rooting through the forest floor in the hopes of being laid (Once you've watched the interview or read the book, you'll understand the connection).