Why the 1930s?

Readers have asked me why I chose to write about the 1930s. What was it about that time period that drew me to research and write about it?

There are two people that I credit with my love of history - Pierre Berton's books of Canadian history captured my attention, and my grandpa Emil Stock's stories about growing up in the 1930s piqued my interest in that period in particular. In high school, Grandpa Emil inspired my interest in family history as he was researching the Stock side of the family. When he passed away, he left me his family history information to me, including a handwritten copy of his life story. In that story, he had a large section about growing up in the 30s. I found the stories fascinating, so I began researching more.

My grandpa Emil Stock with his mother, brother and two sisters in 1934.

My grandpa Emil Stock as a boy in 1931.

Once I began researching the 1930s, I became fascinated with the time period. It was such a unique time in Canadian history - a time when being homeless and unemployed was a crime, but 26% of wage earners were unemployed by 1933, a time when the prairies were immersed in a drought that turned 2/3 of Saskatchewan farmland to desert by 1937, a time when men criss-crossed the country looking for work and adventure.

As I researched, I started imagining characters in the settings and events that I was reading about. And that is how Jake was born.