Buoyed by life's challenges } BY ANDREW MCCREDIE LZommunity Editor ESPITE Warhol’s overexposed 15-min- utes-of-fame promise, it is a rare few who find themselves at the centre of an international incident. Fewer still capture the world’s eye twice. Shane Collins has: once as a victim of circumstance, and once as a conqueror of physical and mental will. Both share a romantic link to Western expectations of ego and Eastern influ- ences of Zen. Much like the man. In 1972, Collins, his brother and a friend steamed into Singapore harbor aboard a Russian freighter. The southeastern Asia port was to be the gateway to the world for the trio of trav- ellers. Unbeknown to Collins and his fellow long-haired com- padres, however, was a newly installed Singaporean rule: no long-hairs allowed. ' “They told myself, my brother and my buddy that they'd give us a haircut onboard the Russian freighter we came in on from Australia or else they'd send us back," Collins says in his East London-cum-Canadian accent while pulling on a pale ale ata Horseshoe Bay restaurant, : He pauses ‘with a storytellers touch, then offers: “We' wouldn't, ‘cause we were stubborn in those days.” When the three arrived back in Australia, a bevy of jowmalists and diplomats demanded their time. “In act, the rock group The Who actually sent a telegram congratulating us on taking a stand,” Collins says win a laugh, shaking his head and reflecting on - the memory. ~ The West Vancouverite’s second and most recent brush with the international spotlight came last August when he accomplished another stubborn test of will: he "swam the English Channel. ’ And despite the possible consequences such a pow- erful will could have on a personality, Collins is the personification of understated grace. But neither of these high-profile incidents holds a candle to what Collins considers his life’s defining moments, and a subject 1 near and dear to most Englishmen: his dear old mum. “Talk about defining moments and I look back to my mum when my father died and think of her strength,” he says of his mother’s daily struggle raising Collins, his elder brother and younger twin sisters in the urban-tough East London area. His father’s untimely death also set profound demands on Collins, who found himself a member of the British Navy at the age of 15: “We needed the money, and it was a real- istic option to getting into trouble in other areas. “I was 4 Junior Seaman second class, and there is no lower rank j in the Navy,” Collins says of his days in Portsmouth and Ipswich. “It isn’t one that everyone needs to experience.” Two-and-a-half years after joining the Navy, Collins returned to civilian life, but found British society unchanged in its opportunities for young men from East London. _' “Jt marks you straight away —~ you're not expected to go to University, you're expected to leam a skill and get a trade,” Collins says of Britain's class-structured society. “And this is.sys- tematically drilled into you.” So in 1968, at the age of 18 and with £20 in his pocket, Collins stepped on a plane bound for ' Australia and a new life. ‘ He found work in Sydney on the docks and managed to continue his athletic career by play- ing for a semi-pro soccer team. The squad also proved a valuable market for his burgeoning jew- Exhibition, created by Capilano College Graphic Design and Hlustration by artist Rosemary Hanna, to June 9. Artists, Sculptors Society of B.D., June 11-23. Presentation House Arts Centre: Karl Blossfeldt: Art Fonns in Nature, photograph- ic exhibition, to July 7. Rod Slemmuns lecture, former curator of photography at the Seattle Art Museum delivers i lecture on Karl Blossfeldt and “The New Objectivity.” June 20, 7:30 p.m. 7 Became Unconscious, Katherine Knight exhibition, to July 7. Student Paster Design Program students. to mid July in the Other Space Gallery. Gallery hours: Wed.-Sun, 12-5 p.m.. Thur. !2-9 p.m. West Vancouver Museum and Archives: West Van Collects! cuns to June. Gallery hours: Tue.-Fri., {2 4:30 p.m. Archives hours: Wed./Thur., 12 ta 4:30 p.m. West Vancouver Recreation Centre: How Does Your Garden Grow, art work by children aged 5-6 yrs., June 11-23. Ferry Building Gallery: How Does Your Garden Grow, -art work by children aged 5-6 yts., June 11-23, Arournd the World with Daniel Izzard: Impressionist Paintings, June 25-July 14, artist's dialogue at IT’an. on June 25 and evening reception 6-9 pun., everyone welcome. Gallery hours: Tue.-Sun. 12-8 p.m. Free admission. Info: 925- 72K). Silk Purse Arts Centre: Flawer Sketches & Paintings, Ant Box Gift Shop offers spe- cialty gifts and hand-made crafts. Call Carolyn Thorpe at 987-7585 for an appointment. Gallery hours: Tuesday to Friday | a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 12-5 pan. Music and Muffins con- certs every third Thursday of. the month, 10-11 a.m. Into: 925-7292. Seymour Art Gallery: Dialogues with Nattre, sophisticated and tranquil oil Paintings and lithographs by Shyh-Charng Lo, Tue.-Sat.. {2-4 p.m., to June 23. Labyrinth Cycle, acrylics on Canvas with themes of death and rebirth by painter Margaret Witzsche, to June 23. Art Auctions are Murder. silent and live auction with professional auctioneer Mr. Art Dealer. murder mystery. fundraiser, fun for all, to June 8..6:30 p.m. Tickets $35, book carly. Info: 924-1378, District of North Vancouver Hall: Alind, Body and Spirit eVITAE Name: Shane Collins Born: East London, England, June 9. 1950 Personal: Married to Debbie: 12-year- old son Stephen Current residence: West Vancouver Current occupa- tion: Physical train- er, TV advertising sales Past occupations: British Navy diver, dock worker, truck driver, gemologist, semi-pro soccer player, TV advertising executive Favorite quote: “Life has a meaning only in the struggle, Victory and defeat are in the hands of the Gods, So !et us celebrate the strug- gle.” (3,000-year-old African proverb). Favorite book: Mawson’s Will: This Accursed Land, by Lennard Bickel. A 1977 book chroni- cling the exploits of Australian explorer Sir Douglas Mawson on an Australasian Antarctic expedition. wand . SHANE Collins has trav- . ‘ elie the world in search. "of deals to close and. water to swim. He swam the English Channel last. - summer and is prepar- - ing for another summer _ of open-water ewimming a challenges. NEWS photo Bred Ledwidga eller business. . “My. dad was a gemologist and I had studied it a little when I was younger, ” Collins says of the family trade. And with so many of his teammates getting married and engaged, Collins began buying jew-: els wholesale to make rings for his mates. In two years’ time he had made enough money to finance three-and-a-half years of back-packing around the globe. At the beginning of 1972 he set out for Singapore and his fateful Meeting with history: Returned to Australia, he set off again, this time flying to Kuala Lumpur, then to Thailand and across Asia and Africa, living on the proverbial buck-a-day. “At the end of my travels I came to the realization that I was as good as anyone,” he says... “But, ” he adds, “I’m no better either. Once you come to that, life becomes an awful tot easier.” In 1974 Collins moved to Montreal and fell into the television advertising business.- Four years later he found himself climbing the corporate ladder in Toronto and negotiating contracts for such industry heavyweights as CHUM-TV. In fact, this connection with CHUM would bring him west in 1988 when he set up the Toronto-based broadcaster’s Vancouver office. For Collins’ wandering soul, the move west was. “See Education } page 14 exhibition by Capilano College Photographic Media Arts Program, to Aug. 31. Glass and metal works struc- ture, created by artist Robert Studer, to Aug. 31. North Vancouver Civic Hall: Paintings, drawings and prints, from the Arts Council Art Rental Collection to July 18. North Vancouver Museum and Archives: Jools, Trades and Technological Change, exhibition, to Sept. 2. Rowe of the Gold Rush, to Suly 2. Norgate and North Lonsdale neighborhoads, to September 2. Charles H. Cates & Sons, _ See more page 28 CARSON Graham drama students P.J. Prinsioo and Jennifer Cowen placed first and second respectively at Be Scene 96, Firehatt Arts Centre’s first annual taient com- petition and fundraiser. Prinsioo also received a Specia! Merit Award. NEWS photo Terry Peters: