About the Author

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An educator, writer and adventuress, Tess Tessier lives by the philosophies of peace, caring and sharing. To spread her message of harmonious living, Grandma Tess and her furry friends tour the country in their 1773 GMC fuchsia, purple and turquoise home on wheels visiting schools. Born in Saskatchewan, Tess grew up in an adventurous family. Her grandmother was a nurse who was sent by the Canadian government to the Arctic during the flu epidemic in the 1920's. Tess' grandparents built the Kost Trading Post in Aklavik, NWT. Her grandmother was the first woman skipper to pilot a scow (flat-bottomed barge) north on the mighty Slave, Athabasca and McKenzie Rivers, carrying supplies for the trading post. Tess' mother was the first woman jockey in Canada. Tess' adventures include being the first woman to drive solo up the Dempster Highway when it opened in 1979 in the Northwest Territories, with her furry friend Gigi (a poo-terrier from the SPCA). In 1980 Tess soloed the Mighty Mckenzie River in an unsinkable able Gurmman canoe with her companions Gigi and Liechein (a doberman). Tess credits her grandmother and mother with encouraging her to follow her dreams. Tess spent much time in the Arctic and Alaska and eventually settled on a homestead north of Terrace with her husband, seven children and Grandpa Kost. At the age of fifty, with her children grown up and her husband having passed away, Tess reevaluated her life and decided to sell her possessions. She bought a motorhome and hit the road. Sharing the road with Tess are various furry companions, The Rainbow Ambassadors, have been visiting school children for nearly twenty-five years. She has shown slide presentations in schools depicting her life in the Arctic, homestead and a multicultural fashion show. She is currently presenting her White Spirit Bear documentary. The traveling entourage shows how we can all get along and that we must respect each other and our planet, along with the value of believing in yourself. In White Spirit Bear, Tess hopes to further promote education and awareness of living in unity and harmony with our planet Earth and all its creatures. As an acknowledgment of Tess' contribution to conservation, all the photographs presented in this beautiful book have been donated by their photographers. In the four years the author has worked on this book, she diligently researched the facts and has presented this book to the best of her knowledge and research. If there are any errors or omissions, the author apologizes.