Cedar, Salmon and Weed

In the vein of Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, this novel takes the reader on a wild ride to a community turned upside-down by the social changes of the 1970s. Seen through the eyes of a young man newly fled from his straight-laced Dutch upbringing, the fishing village of Bamfield on Vancouver Island’s pristine west coast is the unlikely meeting place of an uneasy mix of fishermen, the Nuu-chah-nulth whaling clan, hippies, drug peddlers and the scientists and students of the Bamfield Marine Station. Gaz, a marine biologist, begins to live the laidback life of Lotusland in the 70s, becoming a beachcomber and small-time marijuana grower with his two friends, rich kid Blay and Weeping Salmon People aristocrat, Ben. And not long after, he falls in love with Heidi, a student at the Marine Station. But things go terribly wrong: greedy Blay brings big-city interests into their casual pot business, Ben is murdered, Heidi’s affections begin to wane and the local police are on to them. Of Bamfield, Simon Winchester wrote in the New York Times, “[It is] a town so tight-knit . . . [so] full of hidden intrigues and eccentrics . . . [that] with its extraordinary history, [it] seems the perfect subject for a novel.” Louis recognized this potential and felt compelled to explore Bamfield’s cauldron of characters in Cedar, Salmon and Weed.

In the vein of Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, this novel takes the reader on a wild ride to a community turned upside-down by the social changes of the 1970s. Seen through the eyes of a young man newly fled from his straight-laced Dutch upbringing, the fishing village of Bamfield on Vancouver Island’s pristine west coast is the unlikely meeting place of an uneasy mix of fishermen, the Nuu-chah-nulth whaling clan, hippies, drug peddlers and the scientists and students of the Bamfield Marine Station. Gaz, a marine biologist, begins to live the laidback life of Lotusland in the 70s, becoming a beachcomber and small-time marijuana grower with his two friends, rich kid Blay and Weeping Salmon People aristocrat, Ben. And not long after, he falls in love with Heidi, a student at the Marine Station. But things go terribly wrong: greedy Blay brings big-city interests into their casual pot business, Ben is murdered, Heidi’s affections begin to wane and the local police are on to them. Of Bamfield, Simon Winchester wrote in the New York Times, “[It is] a town so tight-knit . . . [so] full of hidden intrigues and eccentrics . . . [that] with its extraordinary history, [it] seems the perfect subject for a novel.” Louis recognized this potential and felt compelled to explore Bamfield’s cauldron of characters in Cedar, Salmon and Weed.

Louis Druehl is a splitter of firewood and whacker of brush. He is also the editor of The New Bamfielder newspaper and author of Pacific Seaweeds (Harbour Publishing). As a marine botanist, Dr. Druehl was involved in establishing the Bamfield Marine Station, where he also taught and conducted research. He created Cedar, Salmon and Weed in his office located in a small shed on the waterfront, looking up each morning to see a young First Nation worker boat by. They would wave to each other and slowly the young man became the novel’s character, Ben.