There’s always more to the story. We’ve already seen the additional dirt on the Walmart trampling case, and now there’s a coda to the story of Timothy Treadwell, the man who was mauled by a bear.
I was called to task — somewhat rightly — by a commenter following my entry back in October:
Timothy Treadwell, the common-sense-lacking instigator here, was “a self-taught bear expert who once called Alaska’s brown bear harmless party animals.” The article neglects to add to that description the phrase “complete moron.”
Well, here’s an update:
He had started an environmental group and received donations from celebrities such as actor Leonardo DiCaprio and supermodel Gisele Bundchen, in part by saying the bears he loved were in jeopardy. He spun colorful stories about his adventures for the Discovery Channel, David Letterman’s late-night audience and the Walt Disney Co.
What few knew about Treadwell was that much of his life was an invention.
…Despite Grizzly People’s claim in a 2003 newsletter that it was established “as a nonprofit organization,” the organization is not registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit, said Victor Omelczenko, an IRS spokesman. The group was, however, eligible to receive donations through its nonprofit sponsor.
The nearly $33,000 that Grizzly People took in during 2001 was mostly used for reimbursing Treadwell for film development, travel, telephone bills and equipment, Bedrosian said.
