The Birth of a Novel; Louis Druehl to Speak at SFU Burnaby at 11:30 am on October 20

October 14, 2015 by by GVIP

Louis Druehl, a marine botanist at Simon Fraser University for 36 years, will speak about his book Cedar, Salmon and Weed at the Halpern Centre (next to the library) on the Burnaby campus on October 20 at 11:30 am.

The talk is free and open to the public.  Members of the audience are invited to join Louis and executive board for lunch at the Diamond Alumni Centre following the talk.

Louis will explore the emotions, processes, frustrations, and satisfactions of creating his novel . Reminiscent of Steinbeck’s masterpiece, Cannery Row, Cedar, Salmon and Weed is a tale of the 1970’s Bamfield with its biologists, hippies, fishermen, natives and end-of-the-roaders, portraying minimal sex and violence, some piracy, dealing, marine science and loitering.

Louis Druehl is the editor of The New Bamfielder and professor emeritus at SFU, where he taught and researched kelp. His best seller, Pacific Seaweeds, introduced thousands to these little-appreciated plants; he even has a kelp genus and species named after him. Louis was instrumental in establishing the Bamfield Marine Station, where he continues to work on restoring British Columbia’s failing kelp beds. This year, he received a British Columbia Community Achievement Award for his contributions to Bamfield. He and his wife, Rae, run Canadian Kelp Resources, which produces sea vegetables.

What People Are Saying About Cedar, Salmon and Weed

“Expertly and beautifully written…so much action in this wonderfully gritty book…” Grant Lawrence, author of Adventures in Solitude and The Lonely End of the Rink.

“Druehl captures an untidy, imperfect world of human flotsam and jetsam stranded on the kelp-strewn beaches, content, like Gaz and his girlfriend Heidi, to live their lives, to watch sunsets, to be with friends,” Pat Carney, Senator (reitred) and author of Trade Secrets: A Memoir and On Island.

“Expertly and beautifully written, the book absolutely drips with soggy coastal flavour…I could taste the salt air, and picture the harbour, ocean and land where so much of the action in this wonderfully gritty book is set.”

Grant Lawrence, Author of Adventures in Solitude

“This novel would be worth reading just for the coastal ambience, even if the story weren’t such an energetic romp.”

Howard White, Author, Publisher Harbour Publishing &Douglas & McIntyre

“Expertly and beautifully written, the book absolutely drips with soggy coastal flavour…I could taste the salt air, and picture the harbour, ocean and land where so much of the action in this wonderfully gritty book is set.”

Grant Lawrence, Author of Adventures in Solitude

“This novel would be worth reading just for the coastal ambience, even if the story weren’t such an energetic romp.”

Howard White, Author, Publisher Harbour Publishing &Douglas & McIntyre