Interviewing a fellow journalist who has just published a book, especially one whom you worked with years ago, even edited, can be a bit of a minefield. Yet, this failed to worry me when I met him at the assigned meeting place at Toronto's Union Station. I arrived well prepared as I had read his new, very informative book, Intelligent Fear. A book, whose subject came as a surprise, yet on hindsight is what one should expect of its author.

Now a sports writer for The Toronto Star, Clarkson joined the St. Catharines Standard in 1980 during my tenure as the newspaper's entertainment editor. Prior to this he worked at the Niagara Falls Review. It is there that he gained international renown for a story about his pursuit and meeting with the elusive and reclusive J.D. Salinger of The Catcher in the Rye fame. He was even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, although as a Canadian, he was not eligible.

Clarkson's will to go after such a story while still fairly inexperienced as a writer, shows he long ago had an instinct for harnessing fear into positive action. Hence the book's subject is a natural for him. Obviously Key Porter Books, his publisher, thought so, too.

It took Clarkson 13 years to research Intelligent Fear. In it he reveals that fear, one of our natural instincts for self-preservation, rather than incapacitate us can be a positive emotion that can help us achieve many goals. Intelligent Fear is his second book. His first, Competitive Fire, dealt with fear in sport. "All of my work is tied together basically, and is all about fear management," he said while we enjoyed a drink in the lounge of the Fairmont Royal York, just across from Union Station.

The always highly kinetic, yet laid-back Clarkson has stayed true to his personality. While that may seem a contradictory description, it is exactly how one perceives him. While he is now far more self-assured than he was 22 years ago, that personality trait explains why he has no plans to slow down. Another book is already in the works, and he has started a new sideline career as a public speaker on fear management. Michael Clarkson, who never went to university, now helps executives of large corporations to channel their hidden—and not so hidden—fears into actions that bring positive results.

How did he get interested in exploring fear? He recalled that during a coroner's inquest in St. Catharines a police officer described that everything appeared to happen in slow motion when he shot a schoolteacher. Intrigued by this, Clarkson decided to follow up on what he heard described by an expert witness as what sounded like tachy psyche effect, which turned out to be the psychiatric term tachypsychia, which comes from the Greek meaning speed of the mind. "This phenomenon, it gets you away from the situation by seeming to slow time down," he explained to me. I had to smile for when I read his far greater detailed explanation in the book, it had struck me that this was exactly the kind of thing that would fascinate my former colleague. Taking another sip from his drink he said" "I started my research at the high end. You might say I started to research backwards."

In the book he describes how this phenomenon happened to him while under pressure to finish a story about an NBA game in Los Angeles with the deadline looming just minutes away. His strategy: "I got angry at myself." He then used the anger to turn his fear of failing into energy that allowed him to type faster than normal. "Now it was my story, rather than my heart, that was thumping," he wrote, and in the process, time seemed to move more slowly. It also happened to him when he saved his wife from drowning. Although the event appeared to take many minutes, it actually took only seconds for him to respond and bring her to safety.

Our conversation turned to our own generation. While the book is directed more at a younger group of individuals, those who are pursuing careers, Clarkson said that he now finds that the older we get, the more fears we have. His has noticed that the more experienced a professional golfer is— aware of all the mistakes and the pitfalls—the more he has to fight his fears and focus far harder on the game than an inexperienced competitor. Since golf is one of his specialties as a sports reporter, he knows exactly what he is talking about. Clarkson has observed that older individuals fear loss of control over their lives; they fear death, being alone, possibly being abandoned; they often feel inadequate. "You are never too old to embrace your fears," he said, and in his book he certainly tells everyone how to do that. He has noticed that elderly persons begin to develop an actual physical fear of driving. His advice: "If they want to continue to drive they should go to driving school and give themselves more confidence."

Conquering fear is something Clarkson has done from an early age. At five he came with his parents to Canada from England, where they settled in the Niagara Peninsula. Facing playmates who speak English with a different accent can be hard for a five-year-old. Today the accent is long gone. To our meeting he proudly wore a Native Canadian turquoise neck choker that leaves no doubt about his feelings of where he now belongs.

Entering journalism with only a Grade 10 education also meant overcoming fear, as does leaving the Niagara Peninsula and move to Calgary in 1990 to work there as a reporter. But, Ontario had far stronger hold on him and five years later he moved back to accept a job with his current employer. To make that move back, too, took the courage to overcome fears, as did coping with 2,500 rejection slips for various projects before the acceptance of his first book. He admits that when he now looks at some of his older material, he understands the why of those rejections. But, had he not conquered his fear of failure, our first meeting after 14 years could not have taken place.

Now he has to deal with standing in front of a room full of business professionals, who have come to hear him speak about fear management. This means he has to follow his own advise and read his body responses that come when fear creates chemical changes in us. In his book he goes into great depth to explain how fear creates hormonal changes that affect our reaction time, and can incapacitate our motor responses. He calls these physical changes "fear's physical gifts." Clarkson has clearly learned how to accept that gift and make fear work for him to his own advantage.

We talked a bit about the make-up of his book and agreed that Key Porter had handled the layout of the material extremely well. The general text, set in black type on white paper, is easy to read as Clarkson has learned over the years how to explains his ideas in simple terms. He also manages to braid well into his observations the comments of experts, on whom he drew to help him make his points. The book's designer, to give the reader's eyes a different focus, set anecdotes and step-by-step instructions on how handle certain aspects of fear management in black type on gray side-panels. What is also good about this book is that Clarkson does not hesitate to suggest other reading material to his readers. It shows that he is not afraid to be compared to other authors. Not many authors are that self-assured, or shall we say, have managed their fears that well that they will point the way to competition.

The time has come to say good bye to an old colleague. Clarkson, a father of two sons in their 20s, stands up and one can immediately sense not just his mental but physical fitness. He plays on the same slo-pitch team as his two boys. There is that broad smile that he always seems to have had, as long as I can remember, as he shakes my hand. There is urgency in his manner now. He has never missed a deadline, something he is proud of, and so he must go back to work. He still has fears, but he has learned to disassociate himself from unhealthy ones, "the things I have no control over, those superstitions and silly worries, such as worrying about what other people think." But the fear of missing a deadline, that is one he has control over if he does not overstay the interview.

As for me, I sit back for a moment to think about the meeting. I am glad I suggested the interview to my editor at Seniors Review and she agreed it would be a good story for the magazine. It is nice to know that at least one of my former colleagues at the Standard has made his way beyond the confines of day-to-journalism at a middle-sized city's newspaper. One wishes him well and looks forward to his next book.

*****

Self-help books
The new rage

By Alidė Kohlhaas

Self-help or personal improvement books are all the rage these days. Some are of value to the readers, others just seem to cash in on the need of the Boomer generation and their off-spring to find a quick solution to complex problems.

Key Port Books has published two books that fall roughly into this category of self-improvement. David Ben's Advantage Play: The Manager's Guide to Creative Problem Solving, and Michael Clarkson's Intelligent Fear: How to Make Fear Work for You.

Clarkson's book is very easy to read, very easy to comprehend, and to apply. He definitely knows his subject, from personal experience and through his extensive research. His scientific facts are well documented, and there is no hocus pocus to his theories. It is a book one can freely recommend to anyone, who wants to shake off the fear of failure, or reduce high pressure tension that arises out of fear, or who lacks confidence in face of a new challenge. Even if some readers cannot learn to apply the exercises, or make actual changes to their lives, they at least will understand how fear acts on the body and the hormonal changes that take place when fear takes hold of them.

The author makes it clear that fear, which is a natural protective device, can be used to get ahead. Far too often, we let fear cripple us instead of propel us into action. He shows that the ability to stay focused is one way to control fear and achieve success. For more about Clarkson click here .

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