Brocket 99 - RIP Ernie Scar 1961

ERNIE SCAR - 1961 - 2011

The man that we all knew as Ernie Scar, passed away earlier this month.

I first met Ernie shortly after launching this site. I found him to be funny, intelligent and a deep thinker. Ernie was somewhat of an enigma. I mean, he, the creator of the most controversial radio parody of all time, was a vegetarian 12 years before I had even given the idea any thought. He was well read, opinionated and had an incredible library. The real Ernie Scar had issues with alcoholism and his personal relationships. He would proudly tell me when he had been on the wagon after a few months or a year. Ernie was after all, just a man.

Ernie was into every genre of music from the Guess Who to the Oak Ridge Boys. He often sent me CD's for Christmas of some of his favorite music. We would talk on the phone for hours about the mysteries of Stompin' Tom Connors and wonder why Tom liked Potatoes so damn much.

Ernie was the man who first introduced me to the comedy of Derek and Clive (PETER COOK & DUDLEY MOORE). Yes, he liked the Trailer Park Boys and thought it was cool that Director Mike Dowse put a clip of Brocket 99 in his movie FUBAR, but his very favorite comedians remained the men of Monty Python. "That's the best there is" Ernie would say. He never wanted Brocket 99 to be his legacy.

He was a writer and had traveled across Canada, recording his memories on paper. I think he had in mind to publish them one day. I believe in the end, Ernie Scar just wanted peace. Peace on Earth and of mind.

By the time I'd met him, Brocket 99 was starting to gain traction on the internet. He was shocked that anyone still cared about something he'd done as a personal joke between friends way back in 1986. But there I was with a website and tee shirts too no less. Within a few months our friendship had grown and Ernie told me that he really liked what I had done with the site. "You're the only one who keeps this thing level headed. You tell both sides of the story. It's not like these other guys who just bash Indians." I was flattered, of course. But not as much as when he said he wanted me to have control of the copyrights. That floored me. Ernie seemed pleased that I was the one to take over his "little joke". He was happy that we started to donate to Native Causes and said he had always wanted to talk with the real Peter Yellowhorn and apologize for any bad feelings there may have been.

I sent Ernie a thank you card about a month ago just to tell him that I was grateful for our friendship. I got the following email from him 4 days before he died.

Dear Broken Head, Got your card today. Nice. It will go in my scrapbook. Hope all is well. - Scar (Long Distance Brudder)

I believe that a good friend of his put it best; "Behind the voice of Ernie Scar and the parody of Brocket 99 was a real person."

And now he's gone to "the great Buffalo range in the sky" as Peter said on that fateful day, long ago. Now you have the peace you were looking for.

Michael Anthony - Owner (but not Creator of) Brocket 99