Biography of Paton Lodge Lindsay
Paton
spent her earliest childhood years in the City of Toronto in a lovely home
on the hill top just a few blocks from Casa Loma, the playground of the little
fairy princess. She lived there until she was about eight years of age. Even
at that young age, when not in school most time was spent exploring the wilderness
found beneath the viaduct on St. Clair Avenue that crosses what is now known
as ‘Nordheimer Ravine’ or at the family’s Lake Simcoe cottage. She says,
“The wilderness always called to her.”
In 1952 when nine, her
parents moved northwest of Toronto to a rural setting with a few forested
acres of land that included a ravine through which Black Creek meandered.
She, and her younger brother and sister enjoyed great adventures exploring
the creek and forest. Paton there found a beaver pond and would daily watch
the beaver build on the dam and the lodge, cut feed and raise their young.
There were always muskrats and ‘coons and occasionally a duck or heron by
the creek. Some years later the family moved further north yet again to a
rural ten acre bush lot twenty miles south of Barrie, Ontario. Paton says
she then knew she was living in heaven, her world was full of wildlife.
From the age of seven for the next forty years Paton was very active with
the Girl Guides of Canada as both a youth member in Brownies and Girl Guides
and then as a leader with Brownies, Girl Guides and Sea Rangers spending
many summers on staff at Doe Lake Girl Guide Camp and later was involved
administratively at various levels. Virtually every moment of her life was
devoted to wildlife and to youth; endeavoring to inspire a love and respect
of nature and to teach outdoor skills and citizenship. Guiding was very fundamental
to Paton’s life. The Girl Guide Promise was her Creed; the Girl Guide Law,
at that time comprised of ten laws, was her Ten Commandments. When census
people or government enumerators came about, they could at that time ask
your religion, Paton always said her religion was “Guiding.” Even now, nearly
seven decades since Paton was enrolled as a Brownie she says, “Guiding is
very fundamental to the way in which I live my life. Once a Guide, always
a Guide.”
Paton has enjoyed being a member of both church and community choirs. As
an artisan English smocking, embroidery, and knitting Nordic wool sweaters
are amongst her sedentary ‘activities’ but favorite activities include time
spent in the garden, canoeing, photography and capturing the beauty of nature
putting paint to canvas and of course writing.
Paton’s goal in Life was to graduate from the University of Toronto; a
degree in biology with a fish and wildlife major and then be a government
biologist with the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. However, in 1968
a very serious equestrian accident fractured her skull leaving her in a coma
for several weeks. When she regained consciousness she had amnesia and not
only did not remember the accident but did not know who she was or any of
her family. Paton says, “I do remember leaving the hospital and going home
with two total strangers. I mean, they had to be my parents but I felt like
a little puppy being dragged down the street on the end of a leash for the
very first time.” It took several years for residual problems involving sight,
hearing and memory to improve. University was out of the question.
“1968 seemed to be about the beginning of the animal rights movement. I
was very concerned, moved and stirred by their media information and photos
both of which were not always correct or honest but they had an important
agenda; I hoped they wanted to inform rather than inflame the public. Even
today, I do not always agree with their methods, but they brought to light
a matter that did indeed need to be addressed and they successfully, I feel,
brought about some significant changes. In 1968 I decided to find out just
exactly what was going on in the wilderness with the environment, forests,
habitat and wildlife. I would venture out into the wilderness and seek the
truth. That is exactly what I did.”
Paton’s time and experience in the wilderness forests, both boreal and
mixed, brought her face to face with the harvesting of furbearers and game;
with the harvesting of the forest and with government forest management policies
that would plan and allocate to the logging industry, huge areas of forests
to be clear cut. She says, “Today, one only has to visit such sites to see
the devastation. Even though you may not be a harvester of fur, fish, feather
or other game a conversation with someone who is may enlighten you as to
the effects such policies seem to have had on wildlife habitat and hence
wildlife populations. In the 1990s I felt I had no option but to make a stand,
speak up for the wildlife that had no voice and make presentations to several
environmental assessment hearings.
The ‘King of Algonquin Park ’ is Paton’s first book. She is presently writing
a second book of short stories about the dozens of wonderful, very special
friends, the wild animals, that over the years were rescued, nurtured, even
at times vetted and then returned to the wild. Now at seventy, Paton is still
living in the wilderness enjoying canoeing, photography, painting, writing
and the company of life with her husband, a wonderful woodsman , who she
calls her 'Wild Life Manager' .
