Home Stretch

This is the story of Louis Potvin, a successful entrepreneur and self-made man. HOME STRETCH follows Louis' first book, LOUIS' PLACE, which outlined the first 50 years of his life and his many accomplishments. HOME STRETCH covers the remaining years of Louis' life with his wife and business partner of 38 years, Carol Potvin. HOME STRETCH is about Louis and Carol's life together at Lillooet Lake, a beautiful and rugged mountainous region north of Whistler and Pemberton, located in British Columbia, Canada. Before there was road access Louis made this mountainous area his home, and developed it for pioneer families who wanted to live off the grid, some of whose stories are relived within the book. This included developing state of the art services, such as setting up a sawmill, schooling in water and disposal systems, operating and maintaining machinery, and building a water turbine for electricity and telephone hookup where no service existed. Living at Lillooet Lake is not without its challenges - over the years forest fires, snow, bears and other wildlife have competed for Louis and Carol's attention. However, this was a small price to pay to be able to enjoy the beauty of the lake and its surroundings. A beauty that both Louis and Carol, along with their children, grandchildren and friends, have enjoyed for over 40 years. If you enjoyed reading Louis' first book you will enjoy HOME STRETCH even more.

You've heard about self-made men but you never met one like Louis Potvin. A French-Canadian from an Alberta homestead, he learned radio technology to get into the RCAF during the Second World War, and his nimble fingers danced from the dit-dah of the Morse Code into the developing world of radio communications. A salesman's salesman, he went to Japan after the war, and found markets in Latin America and Cuba for Canadian electronics, then gave it all up to transform a rugged wilderness acreage into a recreational community. He still works the world by ham radio, call sign VE7CHN, from his idyll on Lillooet Lake, a little-known getaway in a bowl of snow-capped mountains near Pemberton, British Columbia.