Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path…..
That line, co-authored eight decades ago by Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith, a pair of down-and-out drunks, is one of the planet’s most iconic recovery statements. It was a sentence that Jack Tennant, famed Alberta newsman and former owner of the Innisfail Province knew inside and out. Embracing that path, he played his own humble part in saving countless drunks one day at a time.
Jack died on May 20. His life, once destructive and heading to certain madness or death, miraculously turned right side up, in large part because he did follow the path, so faithfully embraced by 12-Steppers across the globe. I worked alongside Jack for more than seven years at the Calgary Sun, where he was the most revered columnist in the province. His writing had the unique touch of being able to connect with everyone. Yes, he was folksy for the average man or woman on the street but he was just as able to connect to the high rollers as well. Jack was everyone’s man.
He was able to do this by always seeking higher understanding and healing from the 12 Steps. Jack absolutely knew their great paradox -- in order to keep what he had, he had to give it away. And so he did, always reaching out his hand to anyone who asked for help, from a shaking corporate big shot in an ivory tower, to the forgotten on skid row. Jack never forgot where he came from.
He became my professional and life mentor for several years. He would kindly counsel me through the bad times. He never judged. He offered healthy alternatives to my sometimes crazy thinking, and taught me to see the best in people and to not judge too harshly until I had walked in their shoes. This was his path for right living and he was freely giving it away. It was an example for me that I have tried my best to live up to, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. That is OK. Jack taught me I never had to be perfect. Progress, not perfection was another mantra of his.
As the years went on Jack and I would meet every once in a while, have coffee, catch up. He was in Innisfail a couple of years ago to offer his life story to a group of 12 Steppers. As always, he smiled when I extended my hand. He knew I was OK. I was more than OK really. I was looking at the man who for years had given me, like so many others, a higher standard –- compassion and understanding for others, and above all, love.
When news broke this month that Jack had passed I thought hard about how I could honour him. There was only one thing Jack would ever want.
Keep walking the path, and pass it on.
Johnnie Bachusky is the editor of the Innisfail Province.
