For the Linger Longer Outdoor Theater totems, Robert Canterbury carved a bear, face, beaver and thunderbird into one of the totems. An owl, a baby, a whale and an eagle inhabit the other.
Bob Canterbury was born in Quilcene and lived there for the first 50 years of his life. He now lives and carves on Camano Island, WA.
Canterbury started carving in 1977. He has carved for a living for nearly 25 years.
Canterbury’s Quilcene Oysters in History
Bob’s father, the late Robert Canterbury Sr. is the man most people credit with putting Quilcene oysters on the map. For decades, Robert Canterbury Sr. harvested oysters on 50 acres of Quilcene Bay tidelands down at the end of Linger Longer Road.
From the beginning, the name of Quilcene was synonymous with wild oysters of exceptional quality. Canterbury’s “Quilcenes” were served in fine restaurants in Portland, Seattle and New York City. Canterbury copyrighted the family name, and for a while some people thought a “Canterbury” was actually a species of oyster. The historic Canterbury Oyster Farm on Quilcene bay was a major producer of Quilcene Oysters until it ceased operation in 1991.
