Mr. Lude: Portrait of a Happy Lumberjack

“This land is my life," proudly declared Élude Landry during the same interview given to National Geographic.⁷

Now in charge of the automated wood splitter, Mr. Lude picks up the sixteen-inch round logs and transforms them into firewood. These pieces are then transported mechanically into a truck, which delivers them to neighbours. “When the load is full, the truck leaves and while I wait for it to come back, I pick up debris around the splitter, grease the machines or go pick hazelnuts, raspberries or strawberries - whichever the season. I keep myself busy,” he concludes.⁸

Mr. Lude is the star of two documentaries produced by Cinémaravie Coop Ltd.; the first one is entitled 'Mr. Lude', shows different steps involved in making a wooden sled. Rodolphe Caron filmed it in 1983. In the second one entitled “La Bagosse”, Benoit Bérubé tells the story behind the making of the local homemade alcohol aptly called “the Spirit of Madawaska", which was filmed in 1990.