Join us for an inspiring presentation and conversation with David Yanowski, who has paddled 15,000km kilometers across North America in the ten years since he turned 60. He’ll share stories from his incredible journeys and answer the question he’s asked most often: “Why?”
🗓️ Tuesday, November 11, 2025
🕒 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
🎟 Tickets to this event include General Admission to the Museum's Exhibition Hall. Please present ticket to the front desk upon arrival.
Why?
“Charlie put his hand on my left shoulder, looked me in the eye and said, Why?”
In this talk “adventurenear” David Yanowski answers this question. Through stories of the places he paddled and the people he met, he explains why he has paddled 15,000 Km in the last ten years, from Greenland in the East and British Columbia to the West; from the Arctic Ocean in the North all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in the South.
David Yanowski was born in Quito Ecuador and grew up in Australia and Canada. It was in Canada and at Camp Kandalore that he learned to paddle and to love the remote parts of this country. Beginning in 2015 he embarked upon a series of longer and more demanding trips. Between his 60th and 70th year he spent over 430 days on these 11 trips. In addition to having been a canoe instructor and canoe trip guide, he also earned a 5th degree black belt in karate and for many years taught martial arts to inner city youth in Chicago. David Yanowski also holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago.