Churchill, AK – In a place with as little a human population as Wapusk National Park, it’s nearly impossible to keep anything a secret for very long. Rumors have been flying for weeks that world famous singer-songwriter Phil Collins recently made a visit to the area on the edge of Alaska’s great tundra in order to see polar bears. Now a source close to the pop sensation have confirmed these rumors, saying that Mr. Collins had a really great time on his tour.
“Phil has always loved to adventure,” says Nancy Herrigan, an old high school comrade of Mr. Collins. “I totally believe that he went to Alaska and loved every minute of seeing those polar bears. I’ll bet he saw a ton of them, he’s always had really good eyesight. We used to be pretty close.”
The tour that Ms. Herrington says Mr. Collins took starts 30 km outside of the tundra, here in Churchill. For $8,500 the would-be adventurers all pile into a “tundra buggy” – an over-sized jeep of sorts raised up on thick tires – and freeze their way out to the middle of a large ice expanse in the hopes of seeing a polar bear. Many people never do, but most swear that they did and there are photos for sale in the gift shop that look like the shitty snapshots a tourist might take, some complete with the date stamp in the corner, just in case there are skeptical friends back home that need to be lied to.
According to Ms. Herrigan, Mr. Collins “definitely saw three bears” and his trip was “definitely inspired by his love of modern art.” “Phil’s the one who turned me on to stuff like that one blank canvas that’s white on white or whatever. He loved subtle variation, probably because he’s this sensitive artist and everything, so I’m completely positive that he wanted to see the polar bears for the aesthetic beauty of a white bear on a white ice block. Positive.”
Ms. Herrigan says that while she hasn’t actually seen Phil Collins since the year after high school, they have “absolutely talked every day for the past 5 years.” The pair, once inseparable for the entire duration of a project they were assigned to do together, reunited after Ms. Herrigan watched the special features of Disney’s Tarzan. She saw Mr. Collins speaking about the role his groundbreaking music had in crafting the magic seen throughout the film and remembered that she knew Mr. Collins from high school. When she got in touch with him, Mr. Collins was eager to pick up their friendship through correspondence. Although Mr. Collins declined to comment for this article, Ms. Herrington says that “Phil can just be a pretty private person. I think he likes me because I was someone from back when his life was normal. I wasn’t some insane fan. I mean, I like his music and all, but he admits to me that his genius makes it pretty hard to connect with people who can’t see the real Phil behind the music like I can.”
Ms. Herrington says that if Mr. Collins’ touring and recording schedule can match up with her vacation time next year, the two of them are talking about maybe seeing if it would be feasible to go on a polar bear tour together.
“That’s how much he loved it,” says Herrington. “He’s going to think about possibly doing it again.”
