SALLA – Stories from the Middle of Nowhere | Episode 4 – Unto Ek

Episode 4 – Unto Ek

Some people belong to a place so completely that, after a while, it becomes difficult to separate the person from the landscape.

In Episode 4 of SALLA – Stories from the Middle of Nowhere, the journey moves away from music and deeper into the forests of northern Finland.

This episode tells the story of Unto Ek — writer, border guard, hunter, outdoorsman and a man who seemed to live partly in a world of his own.

I met Unto many times when I was younger.

To me, he always remained a mysterious figure.

He knew the forests, the animals and the old ways of the North. He wrote about a world that was already beginning to disappear, preserving parts of northern Finland through words.

Unto was also connected to my own family in a very personal way.

He brought my mother her first Karelian Bear Dog, Vili.

Vili lived for around fifteen years. He was gentle, loyal and deeply attached to my mother — but like many Karelian Bear Dogs, he could also be fiercely protective when necessary.

After Vili died, Unto later brought her another bear dog.

Small memories like these are part of why Unto never became just a name in a book to me.

He was a real person from my childhood.

A man of the forest.

A storyteller.

And somehow, still a mystery.

SALLA – Stories from the Middle of Nowhere
Episode 4 – Unto Ek

Written, Narrated & Produced by
Aaro Luukinen

A Documentary Series from
Lähtökohta Podcast

Intro Music
"Way Back Home" — Simon Herody

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Credits