David Lidstone, who just turned 82, is scheduled for a contempt of court hearing Thursday in his tug-of-war with a Vermont landowner over a patch of forest near the Merrimack River that he's called home for 27 years.
“I know my days are numbered here,” he told The Associated Press in a recent interview, a day after he showed up in court to plead not guilty to aLidstone, who became known as a friendly face to kayakers and an advocate for keeping the river clean, wasn't sure what he would do next or where he would go, even though he's had offers of other places to live and more than $200,000 in donations.
Court records say the undeveloped property has been in the Giles family since 1963 and is used for timber harvests. Lidstone had claimed that years ago, the current owner’s father gave his word — but nothing in writing — allowing him to live there. He also has disputed whether he’s on the property in the first place.
“Mr. Lidstone has been painted as a sympathetic figure in the media because he is an 81-year-old veteran wanting to live a romanticized life off-the-grid,” another plaintiff's motion from December said. “That does not excuse his conduct of returning to Mr. Giles' land, again, and again, and again.”