Explorer

The PBS-TV series Explorer, produced by Gersi, gave viewers a sense of his daring life as an explorer-filmmaker, but not half so dramatically as his explicit autobiography. Soon after his birth in Czechoslovakia in 1947, his family migrated to the Belgian Congo (now Zaire). Early experiences as a hunter inspired Gersi's lust for adventuring into the world's uncharted territories: islands in the Sulu Archipelago, Borneo, etc. He has lived with such tribes as the head hunters of Borneo (who made him a member) and shared their sometimes dreadful customs, such as eating dogs boiled alive. The explorer's career will inform and absorb those who can tolerate the daunting parts of the book and Gersi's self-aggrandizing posture. Photos not seen by PW. (November 9)