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Gambier – Island of Dreams

Memoir

In 1952 the parents of Derek Grant and his twin brother Donny purchased a summer cabin they called SunSea on Gambier Island. Life would never be the same for eight-year-old Derek. When the family sailed from Vancouver to their new home on their boat, Happy Days, it became the gateway to adventure for the boy. Derek Grant looks back on that time in his recent self-published book, Island of Dreams.

It describes a Gambier of rugged simplicity: there were no roads or ferry service to Long Bay and drinking water had to be carried from a well to the cabin’s primitive kitchen. He describes the interesting and sometimes eccentric neighbours who lived there and the bonding relationships that developed as the family sat around campfires on the beach.

The twin brothers built a fort that offered a great view down Long Bay. Derek cut down an alder tree – or tried to – and he fished for perch in the clear waters. He and Donny set to work over many seasons digging a hole on a grassy slope that could be used as a clubhouse, a foxhole for war games or simply a hiding place. It collapsed, though fortunately they were not in it at the time. He also nursed a crush on an older girl, the lovely Maureen, another Island visitor.

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The twins built a fort with a great view down Long Bay on Gambier Island.

But it wasn’t all fun. The boys were required to fetch water, disinfect the outhouse, unpack father’s supplies from the boat and haul soil for mother’s garden.

“What was special about Gambier,” said Grant, “was the people we knew as kids.” These included Joe Mitchell, the boys’ friend and hero, whose First Nations ancestry was not talked about in those days.

This lengthy memoir is infused with the light of nostalgia, a boy’s happy memories of active summer and holiday events. But it’s not all rose-coloured. Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s the threat of nuclear disaster was real and the older Grant looks back on that terrifying time when Russia was the enemy, including “Russian Alec” who lived on Gambier. The Hungarian uprising inspired the two boys to try making Molotov cocktails from a jar and gasoline-soaked rag, like the Hungarians had used against the Soviets. They were lucky to escape being burned alive. Wildfire was a real danger on Gambier.

By 1979, after Derek and Donny’s parents had died, the twins made the difficult decision to sell SunSea.

“There were only ghosts there,” Grant said. “My parents’ Gambier was gone.” Though the parents had expected that SunSea would be their legacy to their children, Grant realized that writing the book would become the real legacy.

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Author Derek Grant

Island of Dreams includes many photos and is a lengthy read, sometimes repetitive, but it offers a big chunk of Gambier history. It’s available from Amazon.ca for $17.71.