"Willard: The Hermit of Gully Lake" is as much tribute to the people of Nova Scotia as it is to the hermit Willard MacDonald who inspired them to offer their assistance.
Neighbors, fellow hunters, woodsmen, social services, veterans of World War II, offered their slice of perspective on the man that survived over sixty years alone in a cabin by Gully Lake, throughout the bitter winters of the area.
A deserter of World War II, and a man who shied away from authority as the sentence for desertion was once the firing squad, Willard lived an anonymous life never wanting to put his name to paper. He had an intense need for the wilderness, and denied many kinds of financial aid (even his inheritance which it's uncertain whether he knew about), including a newly built $20,000 home from his own forfeited pension.
A quiet, private man, deeply untrusting but somehow inspiring of the camaraderie of many people, Willard is a study of contrasts. His love of music inspired many folks to be written about it. Yet he was himself unskilled at violin and guitar despite the solace he took in these instruments.
His story is compelling in the focus of his life. But also the chances he didn't take. And the creature comforts that he said no to which were laid at his feet.
I don't know that Willard is himself inspiring, despite what those who knew him said. But I do find the love they showed him to be inspiring, even though ultimately Willard stuck to the only life he knew. And was eventually claimed by the winter landscape which sheltered him and gave him his mystique.
