Steve & Susie Bear: A Story of Love, Loss and Learning

"Susie Bear was with me for thirteen years. And during that time, the relationship I had with her broke boundaries of what I thought relationships were about. There is a connection you make with an animal that goes beyond words, a power, a communication like a mother has with her infant. It's the communication my mother had when we were upstairs playing, and she would yell up the steps, "Okay kids, you better stop what you are doing because in two minutes someone is going to start crying." And two minutes later, someone hit their head or would start crying. How did she know that was going to happen? My mother would always do stuff like that. She primed me for listening to the intuitive ways of seeing things." Steve Karlin has been working with animals all his life. His remarkable journey has spanned unusual friendships with wolves, mountain lions, anteaters, sloths and so much more. But the great love and foremost teacher of his life will forever be a 330-pound black bear named Susie Bear. Read on to learn about Susie Bear's incredible encounter with a 5th grader, and the baffling and beautiful lessons she taught Steve about the interconnectedness of all life.

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