Shirley Dawn
Shirley Dawn lives with the Winters
Dawn stayed with us, and went to school from our home. She was one of our family, and like a sister to me. When she was a teenager, she developed diabetes, and had to have two injections a day. She was very good about keeping up with her diet. She went to Business College, and worked in an Office in Prince Albert. She was in Saskatoon for awhile too. She married, and had two children, Glaze and Sandra Dean. But she had a bad time with her eyes, and had to have surgery, and her heart, and then her kidneys.
She travelled around keeping up the stories of her Dad and telling all he did for Conservation. She visited schools in Ontario, and Quebec. We were living in Ottawa, and she would stay with us whenever she was in the area, and her husband travelled with her. We went to see them in their home in Kamloops. While we were there we also visited Anahareo, who lived there with another daughter. We had a nice time visiting with her, as it had been a long time since we had seen her.
Return visit to Beaver Lodge
In 1970 Margaret (Winters) Charko and her husband Ron with Stanley Winters and his wife travelled to where they had spent the summer of 1936. This is the sign they saw when they arrived at Beaver Lodge.
Stan Winters sat on the bench outside Beaver Lodge just like he had with Grey Owl thirty-four years before.
Margaret looked out the window of the upper cabin just like she did when she was typing Grey Owl's manuscript Tales of an Empty Cabin.
Margaret and her husband Ron Charko posed by Grey Owl's grave at Ajawaan Lake.
On this photograph from Margaret's scrapbook, she wrote the years each family member passed away on their respective cairn: Grey Owl in 1938, Shirley Dawn in 1984, and Anahareo in 1986.
Anahareo and Shirley Dawn's lives
- Anahareo, continued her work on conservation of animals, and of getting rid of leg traps for hunting. She was Honored for her conservation work when Governor General Edward Schreyer and his wife, went to Kamloops and presented her with the Order of Canada. She wasn't able to go to Ottawa, so they went to her. She was 77 then, and suffered with arthritis. The City of Kamloops had a reception for her on the occasion. Anahareo died in 1986, and her ashes are buried beside Grey Owl and Dawns Graves.
Anahareo was named a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor General Edward Schreyer, pictured above with Mrs. Schreyer at the ceremony in Kamloops in 1983.
- Dawn and her husband, Bob Richardson, went to England to show her husband's art work on Grey Owl, and for Dawn to visit the birthplace of her father, and to speak to the people there. While in Hastings, she took sick, as it was time for her kidney dialysis, so they went into London to the Hospital. They had just removed the machine, when she had a cardiac arrest, and died very suddenly. They brought her ashes back, and they are up at Ajawaan with her Mother and Dad. That was in 1984, and she was 52 years old. That was another loss to us all.
Grey Owl's Legacy
Books and the Grey Owl Society
Grey Owl wrote four books, that were published in 12 languages, and are still in circulation. They are:
The Men of the Last Frontier,
Pilgrims of the Wild,
Sajo and her Beaver People,
and Tales of an Empty Cabin, the book I typed.
He gave me a copy of Tales of an Empty Cabin, and in the front of it has written:
Always remember, be kind to all animals, for they are defenseless. Be good to all people, kindness is never lost. As you are kind to others, so you will receive consideration. Fair play is a religion all by itself. (Signed) Your friend, Grey Owl
Tourists are still making trips to his cabins in both Riding Mountain Park and at Ajawaan, in the Prince Albert National Park.
There is a Society that has been started in Hastings England, called the Grey Owl Society, and the members are from all over the world. They have made me an Honorary Member. I was very delighted to visit Hastings in September, 1998, and the Grey Owl Society had a barbecue in my honor. My daughter was with me, and we were made most welcome. We toured all around Hastings to where he was born and went to school. They have a museum with a lot of his things collected there.
Margaret, secon posed with members of the Grey Owl Society in Hastings, England in September, 1998.
Movies and documentaries
- There was a movie filmed in Ontario and Quebec, called Grey Owl. Pierce Brosnan played the part of Grey Owl, and it was directed by Sir [Richard]Attenborough. It is supposed to be out in the fall. The Duncan Productions in Vancouver, were at our home in the summer of 1998 to do a filmed documentary of My Memories of (hey Owl, and it was shown on the History Channel several times. Later in the fall of 1998, I was in Ottawa for another Documentary that was filmed by the BBC from London, England. It has only been shown in the United Kingdom so far.
Actor Pierce Brosnan is pictured in the centre of the adjacent photo with Rick Gralewski on the right, and an unidentified on the left.
- The Movie "Grey Owl" has been released in Canada. My husband and I went to Toronto to see the Premiere on September 23rd. I was an honored guest and was used Royally. It was very interesting to meet the Star who played Grey Owl, Pierce Brosnan. He is a very warm person and was very interested in the fact that I knew Grey Owl and Gertie so well. Ron took several pictures of me talking with him. We also met Lord Attenborough, who was the Producer and Director, with Jake Eberts. Attenborough was also very interested in my knowing the Grey Owl family so well. I have a very nice picture with him. He is a real charmer.
Sir Richard Attenborough, director of the movie pictured in the adjacent photo with Rick Galewski
The making of the movie
- We have a book on the Making of the Movie, that both Pierce Brosnan and Lord Attenborough signed for me. We had a nice cocktail party and were able to meet many people, who were also interested in Grey Owl. Barbara Morningstar did a wonderful job of organizing the Premieres, and in taking me to meet each of these people, and getting us to special seats in the Theater. It was held in the Royal Ontario Museum.
- The movie was well done, and the message of Conservation came across very well. Pierce Brosnan did a very good portrayal of Grey Owl, I thought. There were two little beavers in a lot of the film, and it showed how lovable they are when small. It is a very good nature film, and we enjoyed it. Saw it again in Tillsonburg, and really got more out of it, and enjoyed it just as much.
Margaret ends her memoir with Grey Owl's words
I will end all this with the same way Grey Owl ended his lectures:
"Remember, you belong to nature, not it to you"
Margaret (Winters) Charko. November 1, 1999.
The Winters family and especially Margaret stayed in touch with Anahareo and Shirley Dawn until their deaths. Margaret collected clippings and articles about Grey Owl all her life. She researched Grey Owl in Archives Canada. She was in touch with the Grey Owl Society in England and was consulted in the making of films about him. She travelled back to Beaver Lodge several times after Grey Owl's death.
Many thanks to the Winters/Charko family for donating Margaret's memorabilia to the Waskesiu
Heritage Museum. It can be viewed on display at the Museum during July and August.
All photos are property of the Waskesiu Heritage Museum and may not be used without permission.
