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: En sirkel av omsorg

Filmed:
809,620 views

I dette 3-minutter lange foredraget forteller tegneserieskaper og læremester Jok Church en sterk historie om læreren som brydde seg om ham da ingen andre gjorde det -- og hvordan han gjengjeldte gaven.
- 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 writeskrive for childrenbarn,
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Du vet, Jeg skriver for barn,
00:18
and I'm probablysannsynligvis America'sAmericas
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og jeg er sannsynligvis USAs
00:20
mostmest widelyallment readlese children'sbarnas authorforfatter, in factfaktum.
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mest leste barnebokforfatter.
00:22
And I always tell people
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Og jeg forteller alltid folk
00:24
that I don't want to showforestilling up looking like a scientistforsker.
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at jeg vil ikke komme og se ut som en vitenskapsmann.
00:27
You can have me as a farmerbonde, or in leathersLær,
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Jeg kan komme kledd som en bonde, eller i lær,
00:30
and no one has ever chosevalgte farmerbonde.
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og ingen har noen gang valgt bonde.
00:34
I'm here todayi dag to talk to you
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Jeg er her i dag for å fortelle dere
00:36
about circlessirkler and epiphaniesepiphanies.
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om sirkler og åpenbaringer.
00:38
And you know, an epiphanyåpenbaring
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Og dere vet, en åpenbaring
00:40
is usuallysom oftest something you find that you droppeddroppet someplaceet sted.
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er som regel noe du finner ut at du har mistet et sted.
00:42
You've just got to go around the blockblokkere
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Du må bare gå en ekstra runde
00:44
to see it as an epiphanyåpenbaring.
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for å se det som en åpenbaring.
00:46
That's a paintingmaleri of a circlesirkel.
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Det er et maleri av en sirkel.
00:48
A friendvenn of minemin did that -- RichardRichard BollingbrokeBollingbroke.
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En venn av meg laget det -- Richard Bollingbroke.
00:51
It's the kindsnill of complicatedkomplisert circlesirkel
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Det er den typen komplisert sirkel
00:53
that I'm going to tell you about.
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som jeg skal fortelle dere om.
00:55
My circlesirkel beganbegynte back in the '60s
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Min sirkel startet i 60-årene
00:58
in highhøy schoolskole in StowStow, OhioOhio
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på ungdomsskolen i Stow, i Ohio
01:00
where I was the classklasse queerskeiv.
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hvor jeg var klassens skeiving.
01:03
I was the guy beatenslått up bloodyblodig
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Jeg var han som ble banket opp til jeg blødde
01:05
everyhver weekuke in the boys'guttenes roomrom,
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hver uke på guttetoalettet,
01:07
untilfør one teacherlærer savedlagret my life.
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helt til en lærer reddet livet mitt.
01:10
She savedlagret my life by lettingutleie me go to the bathroombaderom
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Hun reddet livet mitt ved å la meg gå på toalettet
01:13
in the teachers'lærernes loungestue.
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på lærerværelset.
01:15
She did it in secrethemmelig.
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Hun gjorde det i hemmelighet,
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She did it for threetre yearsår.
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hun gjorde det i tre år,
01:19
And I had to get out of townby.
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og jeg måtte komme meg bort derfra.
01:22
I had a thumbtommel, I had 85 dollarsdollar,
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Jeg hadde en (haike)tommel, jeg hadde 85 dollar,
01:24
and I endedendte up in SanSan FranciscoFrancisco, CaliforniaCalifornia --
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og jeg endte opp i San Fransisco, California --
01:28
metmøtte a loverelsker --
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møtte en elsker --
01:31
and back in the '80s, foundfunnet it necessarynødvendig
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og på 80-tallet fant jeg det nødvendig
01:33
to beginbegynne work on AIDSAIDS organizationsorganisasjoner.
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å jobbe for AIDS organisasjoner.
01:38
About threetre or fourfire yearsår agosiden,
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For tre eller fire år siden
01:40
I got a phonetelefon call in the middlemidten of the night
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fikk jeg en telefonsamtale midt på natten
01:42
from that teacherlærer, MrsFru. PostenPosten,
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fra denne læreren, Fru Posten,
01:45
who said, "I need to see you.
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som sa "Jeg må se deg.
01:47
I'm disappointedskuffet
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Jeg er skuffet
01:49
that we never got to know eachHver other as adultsvoksne.
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over at vi aldri fikk lære hverandre å kjenne som voksne.
01:52
Could you please come to OhioOhio,
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Kunne du være så snill å komme til Ohio,
01:55
and please bringbringe that man
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og ta med deg mannen
01:57
that I know you have foundfunnet by now.
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som jeg vet du har funnet deg nå.
02:00
And I should mentionnevne
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Og jeg bør nevne
02:02
that I have pancreaticbukspyttkjertelen cancerkreft,
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at jeg har bukspyttkjertel-kreft,
02:05
and I'd like you to please
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så jeg håper du kan
02:07
be quickrask about this."
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være litt rask."
02:10
Well, the nextneste day we were in ClevelandCleveland.
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Vel, neste dag var vi i Cleveland.
02:12
We tooktok a look at her, we laughedLO, we criedgråt,
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Vi så på henne, vi lo, vi gråt,
02:15
and we knewvisste that she neededbehov for to be in a hospiceHospice.
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og vi visste at hun trengte å være i et pleiehjem.
02:19
We foundfunnet her one, we got her there,
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Vi fant henne et, og vi tok henne med dit,
02:21
and we tooktok careomsorg of her
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og vi tok oss av henne
02:23
and watchedovervåket over her familyfamilie,
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og passet på familien hennes,
02:25
because it was necessarynødvendig.
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fordi det trengtes,
02:27
It's something we knewvisste how to do.
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og det var noe vi visste hvordan vi kunne gjøre.
02:29
And just as the womankvinne who wanted to know me as an adultvoksen
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Og akkurat når kvinnen som ønsket å lære meg å kjenne som voksen
02:33
got to know me,
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ble kjent med meg,
02:35
she turnedslått into a boxeske of ashesaske
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ble hun til en boks med aske
02:37
and was placedplasseres in my handshender.
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og plassert i mine hender.
02:40
And what had happenedskjedde
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Og det som hadde skjedd
02:42
was the circlesirkel had closedlukket,
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var at sirkelen ble sluttet,
02:44
it had becomebli a circlesirkel --
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den hadde blitt en sirkel --
02:47
and that epiphanyåpenbaring I talkedsnakket about
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og den åpenbaringen jeg snakket om
02:49
presentedpresent itselfseg selv.
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presenterte seg.
02:51
The epiphanyåpenbaring is
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Åpenbaringen er
02:53
that deathdød is a partdel of life.
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at døden er en del av livet.
02:55
She savedlagret my life;
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Hun reddet livet mitt,
02:58
I and my partnersamboer savedlagret hershennes.
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og jeg og min partner reddet hennes.
03:02
And you know, that partdel of life needsbehov everything
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Og du vet, den delen av livet trenger alt
03:04
that the resthvile of life does.
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som resten av livet trenger.
03:06
It needsbehov truthsannhet and beautyskjønnhet,
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Det trenger sannhet og skjønnhet,
03:08
and I'm so happylykkelig it's been mentionednevnt so much here todayi dag.
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og jeg er veldig glad for at det har blitt nevnt så mye her i dag.
03:11
It alsoogså needsbehov --
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Det trenger også --
03:14
it needsbehov dignityverdighet,
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det trenger verdighet,
03:16
love and pleasureglede,
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kjærlighet og nytelse.
03:18
and it's our jobjobb to handhånd those things out.
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Og det er vår jobb å gi disse tingene.
03:21
Thank you.
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Takk.
03:23
(ApplauseApplaus)
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(Applause)
Translated by Martin Hassel
Reviewed by Linda Hesthag Ellwein

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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