The late Jim Cole never thought of himself as a high-stakes gambler. He accepted risks whenever he ventured into the wild country inhabited by grizzly bears. A black pirate’s patch over his left eye and scars deep on his face were all the testaments he needed.

Cole owned the rare distinction of having been mauled badly twice by grizzlies—in incidents involving different bears and ecosystems in the lower 48—then surviving to share the lessons he learned.

Just two weeks before he died, the 60-year-old wildlife photographer and passionate hiker mused on my front porch in Bozeman, Montana: “How lucky I am,” he said, “to still be ambulatory and in a place to bring more respect for the Great Bear.”

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