Walrus: The Remarkable Life of Eco-Warrior David Garrick

by Catherine Marie Gilbert

A fascinating look at the largely unrecognized work of David Garrick, whose intense and unflagging dedication to protecting the earth and its creatures is an inspiration for those who wish to make today’ s world a better place. David Garrick, aka Walrus Oakenbough, possessed a rare fearlessness in the face of danger in his work as an eco-warrior, journalist and mystic. Garrick participated in high profile activist campaigns beginning in the early 1970s. He met Paul Watson, known as the founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the brothers-in-arms shared in life-altering adventures including Greenpeace’ s inaugural whale and Harp seal campaigns. Garrick was a visionary who understood the need to bring disparate groups of ecologically and environmentally concerned people together to create a powerful voice. His experiences at Wounded Knee in 1973 strengthened his resolve to coordinate Aboriginal concerns within the context of larger environmental issues and he spent the rest of his working years engaging with First Nations across Canada and into the US. Deftly woven into this biography are highlights of Garrick’ s rich mystical life, which began in childhood with visions of unearthly beings and permeated all of his activities. He felt a particular empathy for earth’ s creatures, which intensified during the 25 years he spent living off the grid on remote Hanson Island. Here his life’ s work culminated in documenting thousands of culturally modified trees (CMTs), in coordination with local First Nations, and resulted in a ground-breaking report produced by the Western Wilderness Committee. His findings provided support for the ‘ Namgis Nation’ s territorial claims of Hanson Island and played a critical role in halting logging on the island. Garrick comes alive from Gilbert’ s use of his deeply insightful and humorous writing, unpublished letters, 150 journals and her extensive interviews with him. The book is illustrated with archival images and Garrick’ s own drawings. Walrus lived an ethical and principled life that offers hope and inspiration in troubled times.

Genres: Biography

250 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2026

About the author

Catherine Marie Gilbert is an award winning author and historian residing on Vancouver Island BC. She earned her Master's degree in Public History from the University of Victoria in 2018, worked for the Museum at Campbell River and has taught Canadian history. Catherine has had three books on British Columbia history published and her second one, A Journey Back to Nature won an award. She has also written numerous articles on coastal history. Her most recent book released in 2026 is about on the life of David (Walrus) Garrick, an eco-warrior who participated in the first Greenpeace whale and seal campaigns and who documented culturally modified trees on the British Columbia coast, assisting First Nations with land claims.

Reviews

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book is like receiving a gentle tap on your shoulder, reminding you that you're about to leave your wallet on the counter. A timely nudge to pay attention before something important is lost.

The incredible legacy of David Garrick is an awakening to what we have around us, and what is at stake. Most of us cannot fathom what David achieved in his lifetime.

Finding balance and protecting our environment is not a case of "won and done." I have learned first-hand just how powerful industry can be and what it takes to advocate for the right thing. And as governments change and technology propels our world forward faster than ever before, we all need to pause and do more than simply appreciate what we have. We need to remain curious, engaged and willing to act.

I highly recommend reading Catherine's book, or better yet, listening to her speak.

David Garrick truly was an eco-warrior indeed.

[Lif Strand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walrus is a well-written biography of David Garrick's life as an environmental activist. The subtitle refers to his "remarkable" life, and there's no doubt that it was remarkable. Unfortunately, the book itself fails to convey the uniqueness of Garrick's vision and his almost uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. Instead we have a distant, dispassionate recounting of events, always one step removed from the man's life. It reads as an academic tome, which is fine, but not what I expected.

(This was originally written for LibraryThing's Early Reviews)