I wanted to wait until the emotional wave had
passed before trying to write anything about Terry

Ox.

I'm glad I waited.
Scanning the media the day
after his death I had the
feeling I was caught up in

some fantastic mass
hallucination.

Of course, I was.
Anything I might have

written or said then —
immediately in the wake of
his. passing — would merely
have reflected that state of
mind.

For in the end, Mr. Fox

oa

FROM PAGE A1

to look after themselves and
eat well.

Actual numbers of seniors
who are undernourished is
hard to calculate. But Long
Term Care nutritionist Gerry
Kilby told the News recently
that she received seven
referrals in one six week
- period. “That is too many for
a community like this.”

If the West Vancouver
senior’s centre would
provide one hot meal a day,
like North Vancouver's
‘ Silver Harbor centre, it
would go a long way towards
helping the seniors, say the
nutritionists.

“This is a perfect op-

had become a state of miad
himself. It was as though a
giant had just gone extinct
before our eyes. I had the
feeling I. got when John
Lennon died. I wept, of
course.

Yet I believe that life is

fundamentally a learning
experience, preparing us for
God knows what kind of a
- fate. It must be. Otherwise it
doesn’t make any sense.

I presume that what

portunity to influence doth
the mental and physical well-
being of all those who use
the center,” states the letter.
But coordinator Sheila
Jones said the new activity
centre cannot be compared
to Silver Harbor. The two
centres have completely
different funding sources
and operating mandates.
While Silver Harbor is
financed by the Ministry of
Human Resources, West
Van's Activity Centre is
supported by the
municipality's Parks and
Recreation Department.
“We are a_ recreation
centre providing recrea-
tional activities,” said Jones,
adding it would be “very in-
appropriate” for the recrea-

by Bob Hunter

happened to Mr. Fox, and,

perhaps more importantly,
what happened to us wat-
ching Mr. Fox, has meaning.

First of all, I never met the
man. I did see him running
along Ioco Road at dawn
one morning, months before
he started his Marathon of
Hope. I was lucky. Very few
British Columbians ever saw
him running in the flesh.

If you think he was in-
spiring on TV, in reality he
was ten times as inspiring.
My son and I were left in
silent awe — and that was

“without ‘knowing he planned |

to “fund-raise” for the
Canadian Cancer Society, or
run across the country.

Just seeing a badly-gimped

tion department to “take
money for (a hot meal pro-
gram) out of its budget.”

But hot meals are still
possible. However funding
would have to be negotiated
with some other level of

government.
The centre has an
adequate kitchen and

enough space to provide hot
meals, Jones said.

And she is more than
willing to work with
professionals and “devise a
strategy to get the thing
going.” But the centre has
only been open less than two
weeks and its focus will
remain recreational until it is
well established.

“There is no closed door,”
she emphasized.

West Van wants more
control of waterfront

West Vancouver is
negotiating to obtain more
control of the foreshore it
currently leases from the
provincial government.

The lease covers” un-
surveyed Crown foreshore
and land covered by water,
fronting on the
municipality's shorcland
boundary.

The land, situated in First
Narrows, Burrard Inict and
Qucen Charlotte Channel, is
leased for $25 yearly to be

NOTICE

Luxury Marble Co. Ltd.
invites all vacationing

North Shore residents to

rémode! and retax this
m summer |

Our bonded team of in-

Stallation experts would

be happy to install your

new bathroom or kit:
chen while you and your §
tamily enjoy the summer
holidays. at
away

Drop by our showroom
at 211 West 1st, North
Vancouver and take ad
vantage of our complete
design and service
package today'

Yome or &

used for recreational par-
poses only.

Private individuals and
commercial enterprises
sublease the foreshore at its
commercial value from the

rent an

Grapes coplers

We offer a total office dosign semce. carpets and
typewriters
systems design work flow and well handle the in
voicing even halp finance with loasing plan

Specializing In small and medium size,
and new businesses

ona Baye Office Systems Ltd.

1640 Bridgeman. NV 906-2205

provincial government.
The lease was extended
for one year while the

municipality ocgotiates for
more administrative control
of the foreshore.

filing and screen

guy out there running was
enough.

That was the whole story,
really. The message. And it
was very simple: Don’t let
the bastards get you down. |
You had to think: Go for it,
man.

Later, when all the
hullaballoo about the
millions.of bucks for cancer
research started happening.

the initial message got.-

slightly smothered, to say
the least. Mr. Fox started
being viewed as a selfless
hero.

- An unknown = soldier,
except on television, in
color, every night. It wasn’t
long before MacLean’s
magazine elevated him to

- Sainthood with a painting of

him on the cover that ac-

-tually depicted a halo
around his head.
Good grief, I asked

myself, what's going on?
Sure, everybody is afraid of

ot meals would help seniors

7 :
The only way to place your
classified ad in 74 newspapers

throughout B.C. & the Yukon,
with one phone call.

25 WORDS $99

cancer. Sure, there's a
chance the money that gets
raised .. niight- help.
somewhere, ‘somehow, to
control the disease.

And so therefore Mr. Fox
was a knight doing battle
with an invisible dragon that
threatened us all. .

‘But even that explanation
didn’t quite account for the
sudden explosion of

coverage in the Canadian
media. I mean, when was the

last time. someone rocketed °

out of utter obscurity into
the very heart of the galaxy
of stars that dominate .our

cultural vision?
But then I noticed that the
excitement was radiating

outward from Toronto, with
Ottawa suddenly so intensely
interested in Mr. Fox's run
that you’d think a whole war
had just been fought and
won.

I have never seen such a

GAMBIER ISLAND

SEA RANCH

Landscaped waterfront and view lots, ser-
vViced with water and sewer, includes boat
mooruge, tennis courts, central lodge, riding
stables plus a common interest in a 300 acre

Hot Fudge
Peanut Parfait

Sunday & Monday Special
July 12 & 13

“All dairy products made

a
rush to decorate a hero,
(The country has had heroes
before. Tens of thousands.)
' And after a_i while,
something soured in my
mind. It certainly had
nothing to do with Mr. Fox,
who handled his ordeal of
publicity with dignity, and
who did not whine when the
end was in si
But the truth of.the matter
is that he was used mer-
cilessly as'a pawn by the
federal powers. —
a The moment they ‘tagged

the national unity issue on to - -

his sweating back, they
corrupted his run, and they
should never have done that.
The centralist press went
along with the ride. I say,
shame on them all.

And this patronizing
business of calling him
“Terry”. He wasn't a boy. He
was a man. If I'd got to meet
him, I'd have called him
“Mr. Fox. Sir.”

operating cate and
sheep ranch. Only 20
minutes from
Horseshoe Bay.
For more
information
call
689-2867
581-9060
688-5191

with real ice cream.” -
Open 9 a.m. daily serving coffee & donuts!

DELUXE

BURGERS

EVERY TUESDAY
5:00 - 10:30 PM

404 LONSDALE
987-4131

te