Malcolm Lowry

Malcolm Lowry’s North Vancouver

by Eve Lazarus on June 25, 2022

Malcolm Lowry may be North Vancouver’s most talented, paranoid alcoholic. He wrote Under the Volcano, his most famous book, from a shack in Cates Park. Lowry died on June 26, 1957 at 48.

Under the Volcano:

Born in England, Lowry lived in Vancouver for more than 15 years. He had a variety of addresses on Vancouver’s West Side and in the West End, but most of his time was spent near Deep Cove in North Vancouver. It was here where he spent the most productive time of his short life, which included more than a dozen novels and works of poetry.

The manuscript was rejected 13 times, nearly lost in a fire, and eventually published in 1947. Jacqueline Bisset starred in the 1984 movie of the same name, and Albert Finney won an Oscar nomination for best actor in a leading role.

The guy had a brilliant way with words, much like Hemingway; I’m just not really a fan of either. I found Under the Volcano, a semi auto-biographical novel about an alcoholic ex British consul living in small town Mexico, a tough slog. But what do I know. The book picked up the Governor General’s award and is considered one of the best English-language novels of the 20^th century.

And, because tomorrow is the 65th anniversary of his death, it seemed like a fitting tribute to visit the site of his former digs at Cates Park where he lived with second wife Margerie between 1940 and 1954.

The Shack at Cates Park:

In the 1930s, thenow Cates Park hosted a bunch of squatter’s shacks, occupied by Dollar Mill workers and others devastated by the Depression. By the time Lowry moved there in 1940, the shacks were mainly used as summer holiday cabins.

The Lowry’s paid $15 a month in the summer, $7.50 in the winter. In 1941 they bought another of the shacks, painted the door red and the window frames yellow. It burned down in 1944 taking some of Lowry’s unfinished manuscripts with it, and they re-rented their original shack and started to rebuild. The third shack, was, according to friend and frequent visitor Earle Birney, without plumbing and electricity, but was “a 20 square-foot dwelling” with two rooms heated by a wood stove and an outhouse.

Malcolm Lowry plaque — Eve Lazarus photo.

Malcolm Lowry Walk:

The shacks are long gone. There’s a “Malcolm Lowry Walk” sign at the beginning of the trail and a plaque not far away that gives some history. You can see the same view that Lowry looked out on more than half a century ago. The Burnaby oil refinery that he hated, has been there since 1932.

It’s an easy walk along the trails and down to the beach these days, but when the Lowry’s lived there they had to walk down a narrow path surrounded by thick forest.

Malcolm Lowry trail

The Lowry’s were evicted from their shack in 1954 and returned to England. Lowry died there on June 26, 1957 from a combination of gin, barbiturates and inhalation of stomach contents. The coroner called it “death by misadventure.”

The shack was bulldozed that same year.

Tags Dollar Mill, Malcolm Lowry, Margerie Lowry, Under the Volcano

A Short History of Cates Park

by Eve Lazarus on April 7, 2018

If you’re looking for something a little different, skip Quarry Rock, Honey’s Donuts and the ice-cream shops of Panorama Drive and head to Cates Park.

There’s a ton of history spread over the six kilometres of waterfront park.

Robert Dollar:

In 1916 a San Francisco-based lumber baron named Robert Dollar bought 100 acres and built a huge mill at the bottom of what’s now Dollar Road. There were no roads leading into Dollarton, no bridge spanning the Second Narrows, and no regular ferry service. Dollar built a wharf for his ships and a town for his employees with a post office, gardens, community hall, church and school. He rented houses to his employees for $15 a month.

The Dollar Mill operated until 1942.

Worker’s housing at Robert Dollar’s sawmill in 1939. Photo courtesy VPL 6535

The Mill:

See that strange cement structure in Little Cates Park? My kids thought it was a castle and used to play in it when they were little. Although it makes a great fort, it’s actually the remains of a waste burner and the only thing left to tell the story of the lumber mills that operated around Dollarton in the early part of the 20^th century.

The mill changed hands a few times and closed permanently in 1929 at the onset of the Depression.

Squatter shacks started to pop up around Roche Point in the 1930s, and by the 1950s there were close to a hundred along the waterfront, many built on pilings and erected from wood and other materials scavenged from the beach. There was no running water, no electricity and no heat. The most famous of the squatters was Malcolm Lowry, author of Under the Volcano among others. His shack was one of the last holdouts–all traces of the shacks were destroyed by 1957.

If you look out over Burrard Inlet you can still see the same view that Lowry looked out on more than 50 years ago—the Burnaby oil refinery that he hated—has been there since 1932.

Tags Cates Park, Deep Cove, Dollarton, Little Cates Park, Malcolm Lowry, Quarry Rock, Robert Dollar

Echoes Across Seymour

by Eve Lazarus on December 31, 2012

A couple of years back I interviewed Charles Van Sandwyk in his Deep Cove cottage. Charles is an amazing artist and writer, probably more famous outside of Canada than in it, who creates these incredible paintings and etchings of magical Wind in the Willows-type characters. His cottage looks like it came straight from one of his paintings.

Charles, a South African who has lived in Deep Cove since he was 12, is just one of dozens of interesting characters featured in Echoes Across Seymour.

It’s a couple of years overdue, but Echoes Across Seymour finally came out this fall and it’s well worth the wait.

The hard cover book is chock full of colour photos, maps and personalities from the eastern tip of North Vancouver—a staggering 19 different communities including Deep Cove, Dollarton and Indian River that make up the area east of the Seymour River.

The book takes off where the 1989 publication: Echoes Across the Inlet left off—covering the period from the 1950s to the present day.

It’s a labour of love, wrapped up in a truly professional looking product, spearheaded by Janet Pavlik, and collated and written by a dedicated bunch of volunteers including Vickie Boughen, coordinator of the Deep Cove Heritage Society.

While there are dozens of stories from people in the area, it was fun to read about some of the more high profile residents.

Ross Rebagliati, who won an Olympic Gold for snowboarding started as a kid skiing Seymour, while Michael Conway Baker, composed more than 150 works from his studio off Riverside Drive, and former Canadian Airlines staffer Sandra Wilson invented Robeez Footwear in her Blueridge basement.

The funky village of Deep Cove is a magnet for creative types, attracting singers Joelle Rabu and Keith Bennett, and writers Bill Gaston, Trevor Carolan, Crawford Killian and Peter C. Newman at different times over the years.

While the people are in there, I missed hearing their voices. The book would have really sparkled from more quotes, personal memories and first person stories. I know the Deep Cove Heritage Society has them, because one of the really great off-shoots of this project, and a big reason why it took years longer than anticipated, is that Pavlik and Pat Morrice interviewed, recorded and transcribed interviews with more than 60 old-timers who have shared their family histories and memories. Volunteers also managed to collect and scan more than 3,700 photos gathered from the scrapbooks of early residents of the area.

Echoes Across Seymour, by Janet Pavlik, Desmond Smith and Eileen Smith is published by Harbour Publishing and retails at $39.95.

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