A self-proclaimed hermit who became unintentionally famous after losing his home to a fire is about to get new digs thanks to generous donations to a GoFundMe campaign—and one whopping big check from a philanthropist.
81-year-old ‘River Dave’, whose real name is David Lidstone, had been living off-the-grid in the same secluded New Hampshire location for almost three decades. He didn’t own the property where he’d built his modest A-frame cabin on the banks of the Merrimack River, but says he had permission from the site’s previous owner to stay there.
Citing environmental and zoning violations, the current owner, however, took steps to have him removed. On the same day that Lidstone appeared in court charged with civil contempt for refusing to vacate, his cabin burnt to the ground.
While the cause was most likely accidental rather than arson, the result remained the same. River Dave—along with his cats and his chickens—was out of a home.
Estranged from his wife and family, for most of his 27-year tenure on the 73-acre plot of timberland, Lidstone kept to himself. He did, however, occasionally befriend a passing kayaker or boater, and those ties proved strong enough to form an unexpected lifeline.
Prior to the legal contretemps, longtime friend Jodie Gedeon hoped the situation between the landowner and Lidstone would come to a peaceful resolution. The owner’s lawyers thought otherwise, but after the fire, the point became moot.
With Lidstone now homeless, Gedeon and friend Sharon Copello quickly organized a GoFundMe page to help River Dave get back on his feet. As word of his plight spread, donations and offers of places to stay began to roll in.
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While the response was staggering and the initial $15,000 funding goal was quickly met, no one could have predicted what came next.
On August 11, New Hampshire resident and billionaire CEO of Palantir Technologies Alexander Karp reached out to Lidstone and wrote him a personal check to the tune of $180,000 for living and future expenses.
“I hope each of you are sitting down and have a tissue or two next to you as what I am going to share is part of the happy ending to come and I can’t imagine a dry eye anywhere after you read this,” Gedeon posted to her Facebook page of the generous donation.
Lidstone needed a few hankies himself.
“How can I express myself and my gratitude towards something like that? I start to tear up whenever I think about it,” Lidstone told the Concord Monitor. “For an old logger who always had to work, for anyone to give you that type of money, it’s incredibly difficult for me to get my head around.”
The monies raised for River Dave are being put into a trust for him. For reasons of privacy, he’ll be staying at an undisclosed location over the winter, and sometime next year, at a building site as yet to be named, construction for his new home will begin.
“I feel about as good as I ever have in my life,” a grateful Lidstone told AP, although admitted the recent outpouring of kindness and support has been something of a revelation to him. “Maybe the things I’ve been trying to avoid are the things that I really need in life… I grew up never being hugged or kissed, or [having] any close contact…
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“I had somebody ask me once, about my wife: ‘Did you really love her?’ And the question kind of shocked me for a second. [I’d] never loved anybody in my life. And I shocked myself because I hadn’t realized that. And that’s why I was a hermit. Now I can see love being expressed that I never had before.”
Meanwhile, as the GoFundMe campaign winds down at the end of August, Gedeon hopes to keep paying the love forward.
“We feel we can help Dave build a good life now and will forever be thankful,” she posted. “We also know how many other charities and people are in need of help. At the end of the month, we’re asking that the spotlight be passed on to others to bring awareness and opportunities to spread the love and continue to be the change!
“The world is a better place with each of you in it and we simply can’t thank you enough.”
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Awesome story! Touch, love, feelings & emotions are all hard-wired into us as humans created by a kind, loving gracious Creator God and this is another proof of that – even 27 years by himself, a long lonely life & unloving childhood, he shows humanness when shown love.