A warm-hearted memoir of a childhood spent living in various mining towns in the Kootenays throughout the 1930s and ’40s. When young Shirley Doris Hall and her family moved to BC’s West Kootenay region in 1927, the area was a hub of mining activity. Shirley’s father, a cook, had no problem finding work at the mining camps, and the family dutifully followed him from town to town as his services were sought after. For Shirley and her brother, Ray—described as both her confidant and her nemesis—mining camps were the backdrop of their youth. The instant close-knit communities that formed around them; the freedom of barely tamed wilderness; and the struggles of the Depression years and the war that followed created an unlikely environment for a happy childhood. Yet Shirley’s memories reveal that it was indeed a magical time and place in which to grow up. Children of the Kootenays paints a lively portrait of this forgotten period in BC history—of mining towns that are now ghost towns—told from the unique perspective of a young girl.

A warm-hearted memoir of a childhood spent living in various mining towns in the Kootenays throughout the 1930s and '40s. When young Shirley Doris Hall and her family moved to BC's West Kootenay region in 1927, the area was a hub of mining activity. Shirley's father, a cook, had no problem finding work at the mining camps, and the family dutifully followed him from town to town as his services were sought after. For Shirley and her brother, Ray--described as both her confidant and her nemesis--mining camps were the backdrop of their youth. The instant close-knit communities that formed around them; the freedom of barely tamed wilderness; and the struggles of the Depression years and the war that followed created an unlikely environment for a happy childhood. Yet Shirley's memories reveal that it was indeed a magical time and place in which to grow up. Children of the Kootenayspaints a lively portrait of this forgotten period in BC history--of mining towns that are now ghost towns--told from the unique perspective of a young girl.

Greg Nesteroff and Eric Brighton started the Lost Kootenays Facebook Group with the intent of preserving, promoting and sharing the history of the Kootenays and the people who lived here. Today the Lost Kootenays community is 48,000 strong and one of the most dynamic sites in British Columbia.

Fourteen Trumpeting Elephants...what has that got to do with Cranbrook or the Kootenays of British Columbia? Why is there a statue of an elephant at the end of Baker Street? What is the best place to pick huckleberries? Grandpa is telling stories to an audience of Cranbrook town folk that include his 10 year old grandson. Grandpa's tales are based on the escape of a herd of elephants from a circus train in 1926. His tales include the imagined escapades of one Charlie Ed: an elephant who successfully evaded his pursuers, and in the weeks of his freedom "climbed mountains, swam rivers and worked at a logging camp. This story provides a much needed historical record suitable for children's as well as adult reading. Too often we do not know the history in our own back yard. This story will not only entertain but educate and hopefully plant seeds of curiosity in children and adults alike....

Nine essays investigate the history of law as an instrument of social control, moral regulation, and the government, focusing primarily on British Columbia, Canada, where most of the contributors work as scholars in law or criminology. Among the areas they tackle are the sex trade, the spread of venereal disease, the use and abuse of liquor, child welfare, mental disorder, intrafamily sexual abuse, Aboriginal culture and traditions, and Doukhobor beliefs and customs. The studies rely on forays into archival material at the national, provincial, and local levels. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR