‘I didn’t want it being lost, disposed of or forgotten.” — said Robert Murray, 83, of the book that saved his life more than once
For six decades, UBC graduate Robert Murray (class of 1963) treasured a small, hardbound 1931 edition of Camping and Woodcraft: A Handbook for Vacation Campers and Travellers in the Wilderness, by Horace Kephart.
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Except the book wasn’t his.
In January, Murray, 83, returned the book — 64 years overdue — to the UBC library.
“I recently had a bad medical experience,” said Murray. “I started making plans for dying. Most of us have things that we value greatly. This book that didn’t belong to me was one of them. I didn’t want it being lost, disposed of or forgotten.”
It’s not that Murray had forgotten to return the book, or that he was afraid to face the wrath of the UBC librarians. The reason he kept the book is much simpler: “I treasured it.”
Murray grew up just outside the town of Edgewood. There was TV, no movie theatre, no roller rink. “All my recreational activities were outdoors.”
It was an experience he wanted to pass on to his kids.
“Early ’60s, the back-to-the-land, hippie movement was just beginning. Most of the books were crap. This one is gold.”
When he borrowed the book from the UBC library, Murray noticed it hadn’t been taken out since 1950. “10 years seemed like a long time to an 18-year-old. I decided to keep it because I knew I would use it.”
He credits the book, which is still in print and has a five-star rating on Amazon, for saving his life more than once.
Murray was taking his son David, then about 15, on a hike up Mount Young some 40 years ago when a terrible, cold June thunderstorm rolled in. “We got mislaid,” said Murray.
His son wanted to set up the tent. Murray knew from the book that their tent wouldn’t help them survive the night. “All the water comes inside and you sit there and shiver to death.”
They needed a lean-to, and a fire. The shelter would reflect the heat from the fire, dry out the ground, and keep them warm.
Murray was also wearing wool, as the book recommended.
“It’s the only natural fibre that keeps you warm when you are wet.”
Unfortunately, his son was wearing jeans. Murray ordered him to strip down. Soon the fire was roaring, his son’s clothes were drying on the ridgepole. They made it through the night.
In 2014, he saw an article in the Vancouver Province about another copy of the same book that had been returned after 30 years to a Vancouver Island library.
But he wasn’t ready to give his back until his recent health scare.
“When you consider the end of your life, you want things of great value to be kept safe.”
Still, there was the matter of the overdue fines.
“I made a calculation of 2 cents a day at 3 per cent interest, over 64 years and I didn’t like the number I came up with,” said Murray.
So he decided to enclose a cheque for $100, “hoping the whole thing would go away.”
When UBC librarian Susan Parker received the package in January, she was impressed, and somewhat flummoxed by how carefully it was wrapped.
“Inside the package was a lot of stuffing, then it was in an envelope and inside that the book was wrapped in cling wrap,” said Parker.
There was also a letter expressing gratitude. “He was so appreciative. It wasn’t just, ‘Here’s my book and I’m returning it,’ (but) ‘This is what it meant to me,’” said Parker.
Although Parker recommends people return their library books “much sooner than this,” she holds no ill will.
“We no longer charge fines and we want people to know they don’t need to be afraid to bring a book back.”
Parker noted that just because this book hadn’t been withdrawn for 10 years before young Murray checked it out it in 1960, doesn’t mean it wasn’t in use. “People do use books in the library for reference,” said Parker.
As for Murray, he doesn’t feel any guilt about the long overdue book.
“Not in the slightest,” he said. “I took good care of it.”
