In The Cabin Hap Wilson combines a personal history of the Temagami region with autobiographical elements in telling the background of a cabin that holds special significance in his life. From the warts and all nature of his account one must assume that his parents are both dead as he spares no one including himself in the telling. It is made quite apparent from the first chapters that what drove him to seek a life of wilderness adventure was the baleful nature of that home-life. Anyone who has visited the Temagami area knows that he has written the book on the district as his guides are indispensable to a proper appreciation of the region.
Wilson’s writing style and turn of phrase are distinctly his own and take some getting used to; the vocabulary he uses belies any impression of his being an uneducated backwoods hick and has me reaching frequently for my online dictionary particularly in the first chapters. As he warms to the descriptions of his beloved wilderness the language and style tend to relax and we launch with him in his canoe as he explores the old growth forests, lakes, and river rapids and falls he so loves. One can almost hear the blackflies buzzing around our heads as he makes those rugged back-breaking portages and we get gooseflesh just thinking about dunking in near freezing water.
Wilson is more at home in the wilderness than he is in society. It was his work as a graphic artist and his knowledge of backwoods lore and canoe routes that helped earn his living. That someone as subversive by nature as he would find himself working for the provincial parks branch was an irony. One gets the feeling that he was hung out to dry by the environmental movement whose efforts to save the Temagami Wilderness he could not but support but which support alienated him from both his neighbours and his employers. Had it been feasible I expect he would gladly have moved into his cabin in the woods permanently; the idea of dragging a wife with two babies into that primitive environment in the dead of winter boggles the mind. We are not told if that wife left him as well but one can surmise.
It is in keeping with the overall impression the man gives, that there is little to be found about him on the web aside from sites promoting his books and a mention in IMDB as an advisor on the movie Grey Owl to Pierce Brosnan. His most important legacy and the one which has been his life-long obsession is the preservation of his beloved Temagami wilderness and wild areas like it.
