They were the talk of the town when they emerged from the woods and captured the attention and concern of the Vernon community in 2003.

And now, nearly 20 years later, the Bush Boys’ story can be heard in detail through a former Coldstream resident’s first venture into podcasting.

Writer and comedian Sam Mullins has turned the gripping story of Tom and Will Green, known as the Bush Boys, into an eight-episode podcast titled Chameleon: Wild Boys, which debuted Jan. 25.

Mullins was 15 and living in Coldstream when the boys arrived in town, very thin and claiming they had been raised deep in nature with no contact with society. They lived in a tent behind the Kalamalka General Store in Coldstream and as their story unfolded they quickly made local, national and international headlines.

“I remember, like anyone who saw them, they caught my eye,” Mullins recalled. “The youngest, he was so gaunt and horribly skinny, he looked like he was about to starve to death.”

More than their appearance, there was simply something odd about the boys.

“They kind of had a completely different vibe than people would know,” Mullins said. “They could be part of a lineup of usual suspects and everyone would be wondering, what’s going on with these two guys?”

The boys were taken under the wing of a local hockey mom with a gift for helping others, and the town rallied around them, offering food, money and shelter. above their heads.

“History has really tested the fabric of the city. It’s like an instructive tale about the fabric of Vernon, the courage of Vernon, like who we really are,” Mullins said.

However, the truth eventually comes out: far from having been raised in the woods, the two brothers had run away from their home in the suburbs of Sacramento.

Mullins managed to track down the Bush Boys and their family for the podcast, and the back half of the series immerses him in their first-hand account of the story.

“It was really great talking to them. They were very generous with their time and all were very caring people to talk to, and I learned so much.

Mullins, who currently lives in Toronto with his wife who is also from Vernon, is new to podcasting, but he’s not new to creating content for the airwaves. He was on the hit show This American Life, contributed stories to CBC’s The Doc Project, and served as a writer for a CBC radio comedy sketch show called The Irrelevant Show, among other radio gigs. .

The success of the podcast so far has been overwhelming. Chameleon: Wild Boys was the number one podcast in Canada on February 3. Even more surprisingly, it also reached No. 1 in New Zealand.

“As a creator, it’s just the biggest thrill imaginable,” Mullins said.

Chameleon: Wild Boys can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast platforms.

Brendan Shykora

podcast