It's hard not to snicker as Charlie Perry talks about his hobby of researching
Sasquatch, nicknamed "Bigfoot," but Perry is quite serious. For 26 of the 28
years he's worked sorting mail at the student's mailroom in Faunce House, he's
sorted through hundreds of articles, books and documentaries about the elusive
creatures evolution may have left behind.
Blame his father. "My father used to read us stories about the Abominable Snowman and people in the Himalayas who were 6 or 7 feet tall," says Perry. "I didn't care - they were thousands of miles away. But later on, I heard reports from California. My first inclination was not to believe there were big, hairy creatures roaming the United States."
After more articles and reports of sightings appeared from more parts of this country, Canada and other parts of the world, Perry's disbelief turned into curiosity. He started collecting books and articles - anything to become more familiar with this phenomenon. His home has filing cabinets full of articles, organized by state and country where the sightings have taken place. "I guess you'd call me an armchair researcher," he says.
Even Rhode Island had an alleged brush with Bigfoot, in 1973. One sighting was in South County, another in Barrington. "The person waited nine years to go public, and kept anonymous," says Perry. Apparently the witness saw two big, hairy humanlike creatures walking in a wooded area in South County. Perry interviewed the reporter for "PM Magazine," which brought the story to the public at the time. But the witness' identity was not revealed. "People are afraid of being ridiculed," says Perry. He said he's even spoken with people at Brown who've had encounters with Bigfoot-like creatures in the Northwest, but who want to remain anonymous.
Perry has received his own share of ridicule. "The reactions vary," he says. "Some think it's foolish, some think it's feasible. Some believe, some say, `Who cares, as long as they're not beating a path to my door.'"
Although most scientists and anthropologists steer clear of validating the existence of hairy hominoids roaming the planet, Perry notes that the Academy of Applied Sciences in Boston has just given funds for a researcher, Peter Byrne, to go and find one of these creatures so that it can be captured and examined. "These things are being seen in 1996," says Perry, "in Ohio and the Northwest. This is not just a legend. Something's going on." He cites a recent book, "Bigfoot on the East Coast," which lists more than 1,000 reports of sightings from Florida to Maine.
"We don't know if these are primates or gigantic humans," says Perry. Whatever is out there, Perry will continue collecting information about it, or them, for the rest of his life. "Some day I may donate my collection to Brown," he says with a grin. - Linda J.P. Mahdesian
1. "Big Footprints: A Scientific Inquiry into the Reality of Sasquatch" by Grover Krantz (1992)
2. "Still Living? Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal Enigma" by Myra Shackley (1983)
3. "Bigfoot," by J. and C. Bord (1982)
4. "Manlike Monsters on Trial: Early Records and Modern Evidence" edited by Marjorie Halpin and Michael Ames (1980)
5. "Bigfoot: A Personal Inquiry into a Phenomenon" by Kenneth Wylie (1980)
6. "Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us" by John Green (1978)
7. "The Scientist Looks at the Sasquatch" by Roderick Sprague (1977)
8. "The Search for Bigfoot: Monster, Myth or Man" by Peter Byrne (1975)
9. "Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality" by John Napier (1972)
10. "Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life" by Ivan Sanderson (1961)
Do you know someone at Brown who has an interesting avocation or public service project? Call the George Street Journal at 863-2476 or send mail to Tracie Sweeney, editor.