An off-the-grid New Hampshire hermit known as "River Dave" says he doesn't think he can return to his lifestyle. His cabin in the woods burned down last week after nearly three decades on property that he was ordered to leave. Eighty-one-year-old David Lidstone tells The Associated Press that he doesn't think he can go back to being a hermit because society is not going to allow it.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A billionaire software company CEO has given a former hermit in New Hampshire $180,000 to rebuild his cabin in a new location.
Alexander Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, gave David Lidstone a personal check last week, Lidstone's friend, Jodie Gedeon said on Facebook. A spokesperson for the data analytics software company confirmed the donation to the Concord Monitor.
"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 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."
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David Lidstone, an off-the-grid New Hampshire hermit known to locals as "River Dave," doffs his hat after speaking to media outside Merrimack County Superior Court after a status conference hearing Aug. 11, 2021, in Concord, N.H. The court determined that Lidstone will be able to collect his cats, chickens and remaining possessions from the site he has lived on for 27 years.
There has been an outpouring of support for Lidstone since he was jailed July 15 and accused of squatting for nearly 30 years on property owned by a Vermont man. His cabin burned down this month shortly before his release, but he recently secured temporary housing through the winter.
The location is being kept secret to protect Lidstone's privacy, Gedeon said. But supporters will have a chance to meet Lidstone at a "thank you" event in Warner, New Hampshire, on Saturday.
Lidstone, for his part, said he doesn't think he can go back to being a hermit. "Maybe the things I've been trying to avoid are the things that I really need in life," he told The Associated Press.
David Lidstone, 81, sits near the Merrimack River in Boscawen, N.H.
Photos: 'River Dave' forced out after living in woods for 27 years
This undated photo provided by Jodie Gedeon shows the shack that David Lidstone, 81, has built and lived in for nearly three decades in the woods of Canterbury, N.H., growing his own food and cutting his firewood. He's now jailed after not complying with a court order to leave, and there's a growing petition to just let "River Dave" live out his days off the grid. (Jodie Gedeon via AP)
In this undated photo provided by Jodie Gedeon, David Lidstone, 81, smiles in the woods of Canterbury, N.H. Lidstone has lived in the woods along the Merrimack River for nearly three decades in a shack, growing his own food and cutting his firewood. (Jodie Gedeon via AP)
This undated photo provided by Jodie Gedeon shows the shack that David Lidstone, 81, has built and lived in for nearly three decades in the woods of Canterbury, N.H. (Jodie Gedeon via AP)
This undated photo provided by Jodie Gedeon shows the shack that David Lidstone, 81, has built and lived in for nearly three decades in the woods of Canterbury, N.H., growing his own food and cutting his firewood. (Jodie Gedeon via AP)
