Bill Lishman is an original.  His presentation takes us on a wonderful autobiographical journey that deals with overcoming disabilities, with creativity, problem solving, team work, risk management and above all the human relationship with nature.

By means of introduction, Lishman reviews his career beginnings and how colour blindness and a learning disability led him to becoming a sculptor and pioneer ultralight aviator.  This segment includes humorous descriptions of how several works of art came to be - from his first landscape sculpture, a replica of the Lunar lander that Neil Armstrong used to land on the moon, which now resides in Tokyo… to a full-scale replica of Stonehenge from crushed cars created for a television ad…, an 87 foot spiral sculpture entitled Transcending Traffic for Expo ’86… and the larger-than-life metal buffalo now grazing on a private estate in Texas!

The next segment deals with relating to nature.  It begins with his family home and personal creation -  a 2700 square foot, 21st century earth-integrated domed home, located in southern Ontario, which has been featured in Equinox and Harrowsmith magazine and numerous TV programs for its innovative design. It then segues to Lishman’s romance with flight and tells the story of how he earned the name "Father Goose" by imprinting a flock of Canada geese to the ultralight plane he designed and built, eventually guiding them on a new migratory route south for the winter. The experiment was documented by ABC’s 20/20 and captured the attention of biologists around the world.  Lishman’s pioneering work and his story is the basis for the Columbia Pictures feature film, Fly Away Home.

In 1996, Bill received Odyssey of the Mind’s prestigious Creativity Award which he shares with the likes of Walt Disney, Chuck Jones and NASA. A fascinating man and a spell-binding story, augmented by breath-taking visuals, Bill Lishman’s inspiring presentation will be long remembered.
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