Heart of the Raincoast: A Life Story

Geoff Cragg is a tenured instructor in the Faculty of General Studies at
the University of Calgary.

Heart of the Raincoast is the story of Billy Proctor, who spent much of
his life engaged in the traditional pursuits of coastal British
Columbia, until his fear that the fish were dying led him to change his
life and become a spokesman for the environment. Coauthored by whale
researcher Alexandra Morton, the book is both a biography and an account
of Proctor and Morton’s campaign to save the fish and, at the same
time, preserve the tiny community of Echo Bay in which they live.

Billy’s story begins in the prosperous 1920s, when his parents came
north from Vancouver to the Mainland, the collection of small islands
just north of Vancouver Island. After the deaths of Billy’s father and
older sister, his mother, Jae, elected to stay in the region. Fascinated
by fishing as a child, Billy became a commercial fisherman in his early
teens. In later years, he took up other trades during the
off-season—handlogging, clam-digging, beachcombing, and boat repair.
This part of the book achieves a beautifully realized portrait of an
extinct way of life. The last section is devoted to Billy’s growing
environmental awareness and subsequent political involvement, as well as
to the story of how he and Morton came to collaborate. This genuine and
moving book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the history or
environment of the B.C. coast.