I am thoroughly enjoying reading about Oliver pioneers! The first document I read was by Jack Coates entitled, Coates Family Stories and Other Recollections.
My memories of Jack Coates are mostly from United Church functions. I was a little afraid of him because he was always so enthusiastically sounding. For some reason that enthusiasm scared me.
I found Jack’s story to be very interesting and when I came to the end of it I wanted to read more. Then I found another short book by Charles Hayes entitled, Okanagan Orchardist: The Life and Times of Bert Hall.
This was another excellent read! Again the book ended too soon, I wanted to read more about this interesting and motivated man Bert Hall.
Last time I was in Oliver, one of my sisters gave me a paper back book by the Okanagan Mainline Senior Writers & Publishers’ Association entitled Writers of the Okanagan Mainline.
I’m in the process of reading it now. It is so interesting, I get engrossed in it and forget all about time.
In may of 2009, I started my autobiography and worked on it until I finished it in June of 2015. In July I attended a seminar in Calgary called When Words Collide. Authors, publishers, editors, researchers, and teachers attended the sessions. It was a weekend of learning, too much to absorb in 48 hours.
Upon returning home in Edmonton I started rewriting my autobiography because I felt it was not interesting enough. At page 10, I gave up, feeling like I just couldn’t do it any more. I haven’t given it any more thought until the last few weeks when I started reading the writings of the pioneers.
Is it time to re-read my autobiography and to finish what I have started? I have 110 pages, Jack Coates wrote 40. I could easily have enjoyed 110 pages of the life of Jack Coates if he had chosen to write them.
Does a vested interest in people make the details of their lives more interesting? The answer for me seems to be yes. Although I did not know Bert Hall, I knew about the areas he talked about and knew Wally and Auntie Kay went through similar experiences.
The pioneers have given me a fresh look at my own writings and for that I am truly thankful.