June 15, 2019

Hermit of Desolation Sound – new audio serial

Hermit of Desolation Sound is Grant Lawrence’s latest story-telling serial that originally aired on North By Northwest on CBC Radio 1: this is the true tale of a man who dropped out of society to live a self-imposed life of solitude along the shores of the West Coast Canadian rain forest for many years. Russell Letawsky is the hermit – a man who grew up in Alberta and was a downtown Toronto business man before something snapped. He made his way out west and completed an epic crossing of the Coast Mountain Range on foot, without following any trails or roads. In Desolation Sound, British Columbia he lived alone in a tiny, hand-built, one room shack that was way, way off the grid. Then he met the Lawrence family, and an eleven-year-old Grant Lawrence. Download all thirteen free episodes here.

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(7) Comments

  1. Eunice Wing says:
    June 19, 2019 at 6:49 pm

    I sat down last week and listened to episodes 1-12. Hard to imagine how he lived through so many lives and adventures. He came from an area in eastern Alberta where we lived and amazing how he left there, then to Eastern Canada before finding his way to Desolation Sound. Very well done. Look forward to more stories.
    Congratulations.

  2. Grant Lawrence says:
    July 15, 2019 at 10:40 pm

    thank you very much, Eunice, glad you enjoyed the series.

  3. Denise says:
    February 24, 2020 at 3:23 pm

    Dear Grant ,
    I just finished reading your book ,”Adventures in Solitude “
    for our book club . I loved it ! What great stories you wove into your book , the history of the early land owners and their adventures and tragedies were so descriptive it felt like I was there with them !
    Our family bought a little cedar log cabin in Windermere,B.C in 1971 . We spent many summers there in this beautiful area . I love this amazingly picturesque
    Province we call BritishColumbia and I could relate to a lot of your experiences . What a privilege we had as kids to grow up so close to nature and enjoy the lessons and freedom it bestowed on us .
    Our book club is in Lake Country ! Love to have you pop in as our guest of honour Grant !

    Cheers ???? Thank you for a wonderful read ❤️

  4. Grant Lawrence says:
    March 7, 2020 at 9:13 am

    Thanks so much for reading, Denise! When is your book club date??? I’ll stop by if I can.

  5. Calla Pittam says:
    August 26, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    Hey! We just listened to your podcast about the hermit in desolation sound… thank you so much for publishing this! I’m from Vancouver and we recently acquired a sail boat, this series gave us so much excitement to explore our coast. I’ve only been there once as a child, but desolation sound is our next destination.

    I’m writing to you because next week is my husbands birthday, and he’s become obsessed with the intro to your podcast (hermit of desolation sound) is there a full version of this song? It’s absolutely beautiful and he keeps trying to recreate it on his guitar but if love to give him the full song for his bday!

  6. Grant Lawrence says:
    August 30, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    Hi Calla – thanks for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed it. I’ll send you an email about the song.

    Cheers

    GL

  7. Brian Selby says:
    November 19, 2022 at 10:19 am

    Hi Grant… I note that this post is a few years old, so not sure that it is still monitored… heard a segment of your newest CBC series this morning… Got me thinking if I’ve met one of the characters in your documentary.
    20-25 years ago I found myself anchored in Squirrel Cove on our (very lovely) 36 ft C&C…. I had been on the water for over a week taking a leisurely course up the Coast from our home port at Semiahmoo.
    I was to rendezvous with some friends from Edmonton the following day… I recall that it was indeed a pristine and beautiful example of our spectacular Coast.
    The well protected Bay meant that I would be sleeping well that night on the hook.
    Scanning my surroundings before I bedded down I noted only 2 other sail boats…. and a derelict shack apparently floating near the shoreline… curious but couldn’t see any sign of life… so assumed it was abandoned…
    Fast forward to next morning, I had just prepared my coffee..thinking it would be great to have something better than that expired loaf of bread to eat… when…. I was overwhelmed by this aroma of freshly baked cinnamon buns… I couldn’t believe my nose… I was just climbing up to the helm when I heard a ‘tapping ‘ on my haul… there in a row boat was a smiling bearded elderly gentleman with a basket full of cinnamon buns… it was a little surreal and I had to practice some self control to resist asking how much he wanted for the entire basket…
    In the course of our transition I learned that he was indeed ‘the hermit ‘ who occupied the shack moored to the shore…
    When he learned that my home was in Chilliwack, he invited me into his home… I have more to say but this is starting to get too long… was just wondering if your research of Desolation Sound had any more on this very interesting character… he had been there for years apparently…
    Regards
    Brian Selby
    Chilliwack

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