Long before the days of the internet, people got their information from newspapers, magazines, and air wave broadcasts such as radio and television.
Wally Smith was no stranger when it came to receiving information. He subscribed to The Vancouver Sun, The Winnipeg Free Press, the Brooks Bulletin, the Osoyoos Times, the Penticton Herald, the Oliver Chronicle, and a newspaper called The Packer which was printed in the United States.
For magazines he read MacLeans and the National Geographic, those I remember, but I’m sure there were others too.
Then there were other people who would send him snippets of information pertinent to tree fruit growing and all related topics.
From all those sources he would filter and glean and create a story relevant to the day.
I remember him sitting at his typewriter pounding away on the keys, while stacks of papers and magazines sat on the desk, from which he would gaze at periodically, as if to confirm his thoughts. He always wrote out his story by hand first then transferred it to the typewriter. He would spend 4 or 5 days working on it before taking it to the Oliver Chronicle for publishing.
Wally’s articles were published in the Osoyoos Times as well. I’m assuming those columns went by mail.
I on the other hand, like to write Sunday night. I will gather my thoughts all week and write something down that seems relevant to the day. Don’t know why, but sometimes that weekly thought pursuit fails me, so when I sit down to write it it is no longer there, but there is always something to replace it.
I have columns that percolate for months. Then, when the time seems appropriate, I’ll send one in to ODN. This column is an example of that. I’ve had notes sitting around for several months waiting to be used, and today just seems to be the right time.
Of course you know that much of my material is about days gone by whereas Wally wrote about current events of his era.
My sources are Wally’s twenty five years of columns, my memories, magazines, newspapers, and the internet. Every once in a while, one of the readers of this column will shake out a memory and I will create as a story from that too.
As long as the creative juices are flowing I’ll be writing.