First Appeared in the Barrie Advance
Sunday Aug 13, 2006

Is that a kayak on your motorcycle?
(Guest Column by Elaine Murray)

Working at Georgian College, I have the opportunity to meet fascinating people. My office is located next door to one * Rolf Kraiker, one of the College’s web content developers.

Rolf to me is a true Renaissance Man. Accomplished author, photographer, designer, musician, paddler, snowboarder, and computer whiz * able to leap tall buildings in a single bound * well maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but he seems to be capable of almost anything. He’s also one of the calmest individuals I know. In the midst of a recent chaotic departmental move, he simply worked away at his computer until the last minute, unplugged all his equipment, rolled most of it upstairs on his office chair and was typing away in his new office 15 minutes later. No flies on our friend Rolf, except maybe when he’s engaged in one of his many outdoor activities.

It’s interesting how someone so absorbed with technology can also be completely in tune with nature. Rolf explains “he was always one of those kids where nature was really important”. His family lived on the outskirts of Midland and as a child, Rolf was forever late coming home from school because of his habitual detours into the woods. His love for the outdoors and canoeing also played matchmaker in hooking him up with wife Debra. Her company had booked facility space at the College and the guy who came to work every day with a canoe on top of his car, intrigued her.

Rolf also developed an affinity for technology early. His father worked for Leica Cameras in Germany and when the company decided to open a North American branch in Midland, he relocated the family. After high school, Rolf apprenticed with the company making cameras and lenses but quickly discovered he enjoyed using them more than making them. When the apprenticeship ended, he enhanced his skills working for a local photography studio. Simultaneously, he was freelancing for a local Midland paper to the point the editor offered him a full-time job. Over the next few years he worked for a variety of newspapers.

Rolf joined Georgian in 1977, teaching photojournalism and product photography to the journalism students. When the program was suspended, Rolf moved into the audiovisual department where he began his love affair with computers. “Back then they [computers] were a pretty strange entity,” says Rolf.

While at Georgian, Rolf has continued to do freelance work. His words and photos have appeared in a number of magazines and publications including Explorer, Outside Magazine and Canadian Georgraphic. In addition, Rolf filmed five episodes for the Discovery Channel a few years ago featuring the Thelon River Sanctuary, Minesing Swamp, rattlesnakes in Georgian Bay, the Badlands, and alligators. When asked about potential danger in his work, Rolf says the “most dangerous part of any assignment is driving there and back.”

Rolf enjoys pitching quirky story ideas to editors. His most fascinating challenge was selling a story about his motorcycle trip to California to the editor of a canoeing magazine. He and Debra travelled with folding kayaks, stopping along the way at interesting places to paddle. Avid campers, the duo has also co-authored a self-help book on camping with children.

In between planning a canoeing trip to France, Rolf’s latest project is converting an old hen house into habitable living quarters. He and Debra purchased 15 acres in Forresters Falls (an hour west of Ottawa) and the hen house will provide a temporary residence until they build their dream retirement home. Every spare minute Rolf has is spent on the property working alongside Alice the tractor. I wouldn’t be surprised if this new experience ends up as a story proposal on the desk of an unsuspecting editor in the near future. Be careful driving Rolf!

(Elaine Murray is a local writer who has hijacked the column of the vacationing Donna Douglas.)

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