ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jok Church - Cartoonist
Jok Church created the science-education comic strip "You Can with Beakman and Jax" and the zany TV series "Beakman's World."

Why you should listen

In his work, Jok Church loved helping kids learn basic concepts of science and experimentation -- with a healthy dash of fun. He created his comic strip You Can with Beakman & Jax in 1991 for his local newspaper in Marin County, California -- inspired by a stint answering kids' letters for Lucasfilm. The comic strip does not answer readers' questions directly. Rather, it gives directions to do a thing, a procedure, an experiment to learn the answer. It's about learning by doing. Active. Not passive.

Six Beakman & Jax books are best-sellers. Church created the long-running TV series Beakman's World, a hit in English and Spanish, and helped create the Beakman's World on Tour exhibit for science centers and museums. A longtime techie, he also served as the webmaster for artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Church died April 29, 2016, and will be much missed.

 

More profile about the speaker
Jok Church | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Jok Church: A circle of caring

Jok Church: Un círculo de amor

Filmed:
809,620 views

En esta charla de 3 minutos, el ilustrador y profesor Jok Church cuenta una conmovedora historia sobre una maestra que se preocupaba por él cuando nadie más lo hizo - y como él le devolvió el favor.
- Cartoonist
Jok Church created the science-education comic strip "You Can with Beakman and Jax" and the zany TV series "Beakman's World." Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
You know, what I do is writeescribir for childrenniños,
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Ustedes saben que lo que yo hago es escribir para los niños,
00:18
and I'm probablyprobablemente America'sAmérica
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y, de hecho, probablemente soy el autor para niños,
00:20
mostmás widelyextensamente readleer children'spara niños authorautor, in facthecho.
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más leído en los EEUU.
00:22
And I always tell people
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Y siempre le digo a la gente
00:24
that I don't want to showespectáculo up looking like a scientistcientífico.
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que no quiero parecer como un científico.
00:27
You can have me as a farmeragricultor, or in leatherscueros,
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Puedo vestirme como agricultor, o con ropa de cuero,
00:30
and no one has ever choseElegir farmeragricultor.
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y nunca nadie ha elegido un agricultor.
00:34
I'm here todayhoy to talk to you
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Hoy estoy aquí para hablarles
00:36
about circlescírculos and epiphaniesepifanías.
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sobre círculos y epifanías.
00:38
And you know, an epiphanyEpifanía
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Y saben que una epifanía
00:40
is usuallygeneralmente something you find that you droppedcaído someplaceen algún lugar.
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generalmente es algo que se te cayó en algún lugar.
00:42
You've just got to go around the blockbloquear
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Solo tienes que dar vuelta a la manzana
00:44
to see it as an epiphanyEpifanía.
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para verlo como una epifanía.
00:46
That's a paintingpintura of a circlecirculo.
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Esa es la pintura de un círculo.
00:48
A friendamigo of minemía did that -- RichardRicardo BollingbrokeBollingbroke.
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Un amigo mío hizo eso -- Richard Bollingbroke.
00:51
It's the kindtipo of complicatedComplicado circlecirculo
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Es el tipo de círculo complicado
00:53
that I'm going to tell you about.
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del cual les voy a hablar.
00:55
My circlecirculo beganempezó back in the '60s
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Mi círculo comenzó en los años '60
00:58
in highalto schoolcolegio in StowEstibar, OhioOhio
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en la escuela media, en Stow, Ohio
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where I was the classclase queerqueer.
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donde yo era el raro de la clase.
01:03
I was the guy beatenvencido up bloodysangriento
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Al que golpeaban hasta sangrar
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everycada weeksemana in the boys'chicos' roomhabitación,
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cada semana en el baño de los chicos,
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untilhasta one teacherprofesor savedsalvado my life.
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hasta que una maestra me salvó la vida.
01:10
She savedsalvado my life by lettingdejar me go to the bathroombaño
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Ella salvó mi vida al permitirme entrar al baño
01:13
in the teachers'maestros loungesalón.
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de la sala de profesores.
01:15
She did it in secretsecreto.
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Lo hacía en secreto,
01:17
She did it for threeTres yearsaños.
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por 3 años,
01:19
And I had to get out of townpueblo.
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y tuve que irme de la ciudad.
01:22
I had a thumbpulgar, I had 85 dollarsdólares,
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Tenía un pulgar, y 85 dólares,
01:24
and I endedterminado up in SanSan FranciscoFrancisco, CaliforniaCalifornia --
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y terminé en San Francisco, California --
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metreunió a loveramante --
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encontré un amante --
01:31
and back in the '80s, foundencontró it necessarynecesario
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y en los años '80, sentí la necesidad
01:33
to beginempezar work on AIDSSIDA organizationsorganizaciones.
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de comenzar a trabajar en organizaciones que luchaban contra el SIDA.
01:38
About threeTres or fourlas cuatro yearsaños agohace,
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Hace unos 3 o 4 años,
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I got a phoneteléfono call in the middlemedio of the night
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a mitad de la noche recibí una llamada telefónica
01:42
from that teacherprofesor, Mrsseñora. PostenPosten,
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de esa maestra, la señora Posten
01:45
who said, "I need to see you.
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que dijo, "Necesito verte.
01:47
I'm disappointeddecepcionado
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Estoy desilusionada
01:49
that we never got to know eachcada other as adultsadultos.
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que de adultos nunca llegamos a conocernos.
01:52
Could you please come to OhioOhio,
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podrías venirte a Ohio,
01:55
and please bringtraer that man
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y por favor trae a ese hombre
01:57
that I know you have foundencontró by now.
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que sé que ya has encontrado.
02:00
And I should mentionmencionar
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Y debo decirte
02:02
that I have pancreaticpancreático cancercáncer,
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que tengo cáncer de páncreas,
02:05
and I'd like you to please
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y me gustaría que te apures
02:07
be quickrápido about this."
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con esto por favor".
02:10
Well, the nextsiguiente day we were in ClevelandCleveland.
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Bien, al día siguiente estábamos en Cleveland.
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We tooktomó a look at her, we laughedSe rió, we criedllorado,
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La fuimos a ver, nos reímos, lloramos,
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and we knewsabía that she needednecesario to be in a hospicehospicio.
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y nos dimos cuenta que ella necesitaba ser hospitalizada.
02:19
We foundencontró her one, we got her there,
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Le encontramos un lugar, la internamos,
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and we tooktomó carecuidado of her
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y la cuidamos
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and watchedmirado over her familyfamilia,
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y nos encargamos de su familia,
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because it was necessarynecesario.
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porque era necesario,
02:27
It's something we knewsabía how to do.
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es algo que sabíamos cómo hacer.
02:29
And just as the womanmujer who wanted to know me as an adultadulto
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Y así como la mujer que quería conocerme como adulto
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got to know me,
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llegó a conocerme,
02:35
she turnedconvertido into a boxcaja of ashesdespojos mortales
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se convirtió en una caja de cenizas
02:37
and was placedmetido in my handsmanos.
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y fue puesta en mis manos.
02:40
And what had happenedsucedió
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Y lo que sucedió
02:42
was the circlecirculo had closedcerrado,
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fue que el círculo se había cerrado,
02:44
it had becomevolverse a circlecirculo --
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se había convertido en un círculo --
02:47
and that epiphanyEpifanía I talkedhabló about
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y esa epifanía de la que les hablé
02:49
presentedpresentado itselfsí mismo.
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se hizo presente en sí misma.
02:51
The epiphanyEpifanía is
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La epifanía es
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that deathmuerte is a partparte of life.
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que la muerte es parte de la vida.
02:55
She savedsalvado my life;
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Ella salvó mi vida,
02:58
I and my partnercompañero savedsalvado herssuyo.
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mi pareja y yo salvamos la de ella.
03:02
And you know, that partparte of life needsnecesariamente everything
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Y saben que esa parte de la vida necesita todo
03:04
that the restdescanso of life does.
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lo que el resto de la vida.
03:06
It needsnecesariamente truthverdad and beautybelleza,
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Necesita verdad y belleza,
03:08
and I'm so happycontento it's been mentionedmencionado so much here todayhoy.
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y estoy muy felíz que hoy se habló mucho de esto.
03:11
It alsoademás needsnecesariamente --
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También necesita --
03:14
it needsnecesariamente dignitydignidad,
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necesita dignidad,
03:16
love and pleasurePlacer,
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amor y placer.
03:18
and it's our jobtrabajo to handmano those things out.
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Y es nuestro trabajo proporcionar esas cosas.
03:21
Thank you.
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Gracias.
03:23
(ApplauseAplausos)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Veronica Vera
Reviewed by Gisela Giardino

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jok Church - Cartoonist
Jok Church created the science-education comic strip "You Can with Beakman and Jax" and the zany TV series "Beakman's World."

Why you should listen

In his work, Jok Church loved helping kids learn basic concepts of science and experimentation -- with a healthy dash of fun. He created his comic strip You Can with Beakman & Jax in 1991 for his local newspaper in Marin County, California -- inspired by a stint answering kids' letters for Lucasfilm. The comic strip does not answer readers' questions directly. Rather, it gives directions to do a thing, a procedure, an experiment to learn the answer. It's about learning by doing. Active. Not passive.

Six Beakman & Jax books are best-sellers. Church created the long-running TV series Beakman's World, a hit in English and Spanish, and helped create the Beakman's World on Tour exhibit for science centers and museums. A longtime techie, he also served as the webmaster for artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Church died April 29, 2016, and will be much missed.

 

More profile about the speaker
Jok Church | Speaker | TED.com

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