The last interview with the late Jim Cole, the author who championed Yellowstone National Park grizzlies despite a mauling that left him disfigured, will be aired tonight on Yellowstone Public Radio.

Cole was a Renaissance man in the best sense of the word: outdoorsman, musician, writer and photographer. He was a regular presence in Bozeman, Montana, where he made his home for the last 12 years; it was his base for regular forays to Yellowstone National Park.

It was in Yellowstone where he suffered a second bear mauling in 2007, one that left him disfigured. He was hiking in the backcountry when he accidentally stepped on a mother grizzly with a cub nearby. The attack was so quick that he was unable to use the pepper spray attached to his belt; the griz tore out his left eye and badly disfigured his face. Months of reconstructive surgery was the result.

As was a book: "Blindsided: Surviving a Grizzly Attack and Still Loving the Great Bear" (St. Martin's Press; $25.99). The book just came out and Cole was in the process of promoting it in the area.

RELATED STORIES: In Memoriam: Jim Cole

Photo by Bob Strand, courtesy of Macmillan.

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