It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Bryan David Cummins, who died suddenly from heart failure at the age of 72, in the peace and comfort of his home.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, on December 30, 1953, Bryan was raised in Sept-Îles on Quebec’s Côte-Nord. Bryan was the beloved husband and soulmate of Patricia Lore (predeceased), whose love transformed his life. He was the cherished son of Victor and Frances Cummins; brother of Doreen, Victor, Eric, Donna, Karen, Neal, and informally adopted brother Brian (all predeceased); treasured uncle to Alain, Robert, Jeffrey, Aaron, Kimberly, Joy, Peter, Anthony, Christopher, and Jonathan; devoted Airedale dad to Rogue, Angie, Katy, Sir Burton, and Lady Belle; and a dear friend, neighbour, professor, and mentor to countless people whose lives he touched.
A self-described “kid from working-class roots,” he never lost sight of where he came from. Though immensely proud of his accomplishments, he was also very humble. Bryan earned a BA (Honours) in History and Anthropology from Trent University, an MA in Education from Concordia University, and an MA and PhD in Anthropology from McMaster University, completing his doctorate in an astonishing four years. Yet degrees alone never defined him. He possessed a strong curiosity about people, cultures, history, and the remarkable ways humans and animals have shaped one another’s lives.
Bryan began his teaching career in 1983 at a band-run elementary school in the Anicinabe community of Winneway, Quebec where he met Tricia. He would go on to teach at several post-secondary institutions, most notably McMaster University and Trent University, where he became known as an exceptional educator. His lectures were captivating, filled with vivid stories, humour, and insights. Students were often inspired not only by what they learned, but by his encouragement, support, and unwavering belief in their potential. His spirited rants (in and out of the classroom) became legendary among those who knew him.
As an anthropologist, Bryan’s research carried him across Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. His fieldwork with the Attawapiskat Cree along the coast of James Bay resulted in the documentary Attawapiskat Goose Hunt, which aired on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Among his proudest scholarly achievements was the research he conducted alongside Tricia in France’s Vallée d’Ossau, where they studied Pyrenean pastoralism and the livestock guardian dogs of the region.
Bryan authored and co-authored more than a dozen books spanning anthropology, history, cynology, and ethnocynology. His work earned widespread respect and numerous honours, including three Dog Writers Association of America awards in 2013 for Our Debt to the Dog: How the Domestic Dog Helped Shape Human Societies. His book Colonel Richardson’s Airedales: The Making of the British War Dog School, 1900–1918 inspired a BBC Inside Out documentary. He also wrote regularly for the Canadian Kennel Club’s magazine Dogs in Canada. Yet the book that meant the most to him was Following the Heart on the Coastal Footpath: A Memorial Walk Around the Isle of Wight – a deeply personal, painfully poignant, and heartachingly beautiful love story dedicated to his life with Tricia.
Bryan delighted in collecting extraordinary things. His rare and antiquarian book business, Bryan’s Books, became one of the world’s largest sources of rare and out-of-print dog books. He assembled fascinating collections of Oorang and Airedale memorabilia, accumulated what may be one of the world’s largest collections of canine skulls—later featured in his final publication, Canine Crania: Your Dog’s Head and Why It Looks That Way—and took particular pleasure in owning a 40,000-year-old cave bear skull.
His interests were wonderfully diverse. One of his favourite possessions was a beautifully restored 1936 British K6 telephone box overlooking his backyard. Guests were often invited to telephone the house from “George,” producing surprise and laughter every time the phone rang. A self-identified Anglophile, Bryan visited England numerous times. He created his own English garden retreat at home, affectionately known as The Airedale Arms, where he could often be found beneath the pergola with Burton and Belle, enjoying an Old Speckled Hen, listening to Gordon Lightfoot, and watching the evening settle over Tricia’s roses.
Travel filled Bryan with childlike awe and wonder. Whether exploring a new country, learning from another culture, or setting off on another long-distance walk, he embraced every journey with enthusiasm, excitement, and curiosity. He walked England’s Coast to Coast route, Scotland’s West Highland Way and Great Glen Way, The Bermuda Rail Trail, and routes across Malta, Gozo, and three Azorean islands. Above all, he loved the Isle of Wight, where he and Tricia spent eight summers walking coastal footpaths, feeding carrots to the donkeys at the sanctuary, enjoying quiet pints at the Chine Inn, and reading newspapers in the garden of their sixteenth-century cottage.
Bryan was a highly accomplished man – intelligent, determined, creative, adventurous, sensitive, and fun – with a warm smile and a contagious laugh. He was a scholar, scientist, researcher, teacher, mentor, filmmaker, author, collector, traveller, long-distance walker, weightlifter, and beer enthusiast. Guided by environmentalist, animal and human rights, and social justice values, he lived according to his principles and inspired others to do the same. Writing over two dozen books, travelling to over two dozen countries, and spending 25 years in “the greatest romance the world has ever seen” constituted for him “a life well-lived”.
Bryan was deeply loved and will be profoundly missed by his family and friends whose only comfort is knowing that he was content with his life’s accomplishments, he lived and died on his own terms, his suffering is now over, and a new journey begins as he is finally reunited with his “Lore woman”.
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