Canadian recording artist Tim Lawson will pay tribute to a Winnipeg legend while raising money for war veterans this week.

The West Coast artist honours Winnipeg's Sir William Stephenson on his Remembrance Day tribute album titled Lest We Forget. Proceeds from the compact disc will benefit the Royal Canadian Legion's Poppy Fund.

Lawson met Stephenson in 1985 and says the album should help keep the his memory alive.

"He was an incredibly warm person," Lawson said of Stephenson, the man called Intrepid. "A great example of a life well lived."

Stephenson made his name as Sir Winston Churchill's right-hand man in the Second World War, leading counter-espionage operations for the entire Western hemisphere.

Lawson describes conversations with Stephenson at his home in Bermuda as awe-inspiring, saying Stephenson always felt education was the key to the future of the world.

"To have a conversation with him took all my power of concentration just to keep up," he said.

And, rather than following his footsteps into the world of espionage, Lawson said he uses his music to fight poverty, disease and ignorance.

"Part of my character is to remember how lucky we are to be here, and to realize the enormity of human existence," he said.

Lawson will perform at the Chapters Polo Festival Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Chapters outlet at 695 Empress St.

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