Willard Kitchener MacDonald jumped a troop train heading for war. He ran deep into the woods and live as a recluse for years before anybody knew he was there. He lived by eating fish, squirrels, buries. He use to walk I believe 10 miles to EarlTown Nova Scotia to get supplies. With the onset of ATV they discovered him years later as a humble old man. Many people wanted to help him but he was proud and refused help. He was a christian, humble, witty, secretive, and when he didn't want to be found you would not find him. In the later years some of his friends use to go visit him. He had built his own guitar out of a tree but later his friends bought him one. He came from a musical family and when he lived in civilization he use to play at dances. His music was pretty unique because he never had much influence of the top 10 songs on the radio. A couple of well know musicians visited him years ago and played guitar with him. Their visit inspired them to write a song about him called Let HIm Be. It can be found on youtube.. The musicians that made the song was John Mier and Dave Gunning. The song was about Willard Kitchener Macdonald (the hermit of gully lake) and how he live his life and was a great tribute to him. They finished making this song when Willard Kitchener Macdonald disappeared from his humble abode into the woods. Some say he disappeared deeper into the woods because he was scared that people would take him to the hospital because he had a bad flue. Some say he went to die. There was a rescue team that looked for him but didn't find him until the next spring. They found him dead near the place he had his original hut near Gully Lake in Northern Nova Scotia Canada. He died in 2003 at age 87.
Willard was a very humble unique man. People that new him loved him. There is a brook written about him called the Hermit of Gully Lake. This is an incredible compelling story which is a must read. .
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