Memories To Memoirs founder Robert “Lucky” Budd has worked on a lot of different projects since he graduated with a Masters Degree in History from the University of Victoria. He was in charge of the preservation and restoration of the “Orchard Collection”, one of the world’s largest oral history collections and has since worked with a number of private collections and high profile clients including the Nisga’a First Nation, the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, and the Grateful Dead’s audiovisual archive.
Lucky is an accomplished author, a father, an oral historian, archival preservationist, biographer, musician, public speaker, and the host of CBC radio series Voices Of BC. He is best known for his books based upon the stories of British Columbia pioneers, as well as his book collaborations with artist Roy Henry Vickers. 6 of his 9 books are national bestsellers. His books have been nominated for 14 awards including winning the second prize for the 2015 Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia’s Historical Writing Award, a Moonbeam International Children’s Book Award in 2015, and the 2014 British Columbia Genealogical Society Family History Book Award. Lucky is an educator in a variety of formal and informal ways.
One Eagle Soaring was released in May of 2018 from Harbour Publishing and remains one of the top 15 best selling books in B.C.
as reported by The Vancouver Sun
Most recently, Lucky has modelled the support and perseverance of a loving father who got behind his son’s brilliant idea and, after using different media to get the word out, or kind of word, levidromes have taken on a life of their own.“The levidrome campaign has been a real surprise and a lot of fun,” Lucky began as he explained how his son, Levi, came to name the word that has gotten the attention of dictionaries, educators, musicians and so many others, going viral several times over. “It hits me sometimes just how impactful this has been.” As Levi watches his word become “real”, his father gets to watch his son’s idea be validated in so many interesting and creative ways. “It's our job to help our children feel good about the things they are good at.” Budd refers to one of his collaborations with Vickers called Peace Dancer noting, “What the moral of that story is is that when our children are acting in ways that we don’t deem acceptable, we have to go back to ourselves and how the role of mentorship means everything when it comes to passing values to our children.” Lucky does a lot of modelling for his son and daughter. Thanks to his support and commitment, there is a #levidromeday on March 14th in BC, and the word has gone viral across the world. Here's a recent picture of the levidrome board from a school in Maui:
Lucky referred to the process of choosing the three songs for his guest appearance on the P3 as “somewhat agonizing.” He has been an audiophile for as long as he can remember. Illuminating the magnitude of the challenge he said, “Music has been my lifeline my entire life.” At the end of his explanation of why the process was particularly difficult, I was so glad to heard him say that he appreciated the experience. “It was an incredibly fruitful exercise for me, and I really enjoyed it in the end.” While he expressed satisfaction with his selection, Lucky noted that it could have looked so different, even though he was happy with what he picked.
Lucky’s nostalgic song was chosen because it was the first song that popped into his head under the category of nostalgia. He painted a rich picture of being 18 and deciding to go on Grateful Dead Spring Tour on his own. At the end of his solo drive, he pulled into Philadelphia and this song played in perfect harmony to mark this moment. Lucky was filled with a sense of, “I chose to be here, I’m on my own path, I’m far from home because this is where I chose to be, and I couldn’t be happier.” He was reflecting on that first feeling of freedom and independence. “ To me, it's a matter of finding the strength to trust your inner light and to trust your own inspiration.” He made an incredible insight regarding the etymology and interrelationship of respiration and inspiration. Lucky later reflected that, “In that moment, it was me having the self esteem to listen to my muse, and it stuck with me ever since.” Later paraphrasing the song as, “It's alright ma, I’m gonna make it my own. I’m doing it on my own, I’m going to break free and make it on my own..,” here is Bob Dylan’s, It's Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding:
Budd’s identity song is drawn from Canadian content, which he knew would have to be a part of this “assignment”. He says that it really captures where he is in his life right now. The artist is one of his favourites, and he describes the guitar playing in this song poetically. “The music itself, from a guitar playing perspective, is full of light, full of hope, full of beauty, and it’s very enthusiastic.” This song reflects many of Lucky’s qualities including his positivity. He is a person of action who refers to himself as,” ...proactive to a fault.” Another part of the song that appeals to our guest right now is the repetition in the song of the place with the “bright sky”. As a dedicated father, this is not his time to roam. He’s had that freedom and will have it again, but this space is where he wants to be present for his children and savour each fleeting moment. Lucky feels grateful declaring, “I have no regrets about where my life is right now. I’m so thankful for what I’m doing...I was so ready for the challenges and the phase of life where’ I’m at right now.” Lucky works from home and has created a life for himself where, even if he won the lottery, he would keep doing what he is already doing with love and joy. Here’ is Bruce Cockbourne’s Bright Sky:
Lucky was thoughtful about balancing his musical choices. His first two selections were what he referred to as “singer-songwriter”. As a collaborative person, producer and storyteller, so he referred to music that excites him as that which combines all of those elements. It is through that cooperation that people , “...create something bigger than you can create if you’re on your own.” He mentions that it’s more than just the people in this band in the conversation, but that the audience, as well, is an essential part of the alliance. Lucky chose this particular version of this song for his pick me up song because, “Not only is it high energy, but it is a deep deep conversation between five musicians: 2 guitars, 1 bass, i piano and 1 drummer. Everyone is listening to each other. Everyone is playing off each other. And, the story itself is amazing, and the fact that it has such complicated changes is amazing.” This is the Europe 1972 version of the Grateful Dead’s Cumberland Blues:
I often ask my guests if there is a song missing from their playlist, and I was sure that this would be another critical challenge for Lucky. He was quick to respond with Neil Young, his “hero of heroes” and an iconic Canadian musician. Budd expressed a feeling of truly being alone for the first time when his sister and brothers left the house for school and for life. “I picked up a guitar, and I put on a Neil Young tape, and I figured out how to play every Neil Young song that I could. That was how I pulled myself out of it, and I have been on that course every since.” He reminisced about a particular song by the artist adding that playing his works is like, “Playing songs that I wrote.” Young's music grounds Lucky, and he feels “...right at home in the centre of his music...” Although it was hard for him not to select a song by this artist for his P3, he was content with his choices.
I have known Lucky for a long time as he is the sibling of one of my close friend. We say that we are related by love, not blood, but I consider him family by extension. Knowing someone is different than really getting to to know someone, which made this recording quite special for me. It turned into a really symbiotic experience and, as my 25th podcast, instead of commemorating it with silver, getting to know Lucky through the show made it more of a silver lining on an already sunny day.
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