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| TWO ENTERTAINING LOCAL BOOKS
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August 11, 2008.
These books will never top the best seller lists, but they will add richness (not to mention many smiles) to your cruises in the San Juan Islands and in Desolation Sound. I think they should be read while actually cruising the areas.
Henry’s Stories, by Henry Hoffman. As far as I know, the Shaw General Store at the Shaw Island ferry landing is the only place this book is available. It was written and self-published by Henry Hoffman, now in his 80s, who has lived, farmed, fished and hunted on Shaw Island since childhood. As cruisers, all most of us see in the San Juans are the wonderful marine parks, the historic sites such as Roche Harbor, Garrison Bay and Rosario, Sucia Island, Spencer Spit, and the town of Friday Harbor, and the elegant estates along the water’s edge. In truth, though, once past town the islands quickly become farm country or timber country.
This book is a collection of Henry’s memories of survival during the Great Depression, of growing up on the farm, of marrying and raising a family on an island, and all that goes with it. Henry Hoffman is a wonderful story-teller. You’ll have to read past the copy editing shortfalls, such as “it’s” when the correct spelling would be “its,” and things of that sort. If anything, they just add to the charm of the book. Henry’s Stories was sort of forced on me by Steve and Terri Mason, who own the Shaw General Store. They promised I wouldn’t be disappointed, and I wasn’t. You won’t be disappointed either. $17.50.
Dynamite Stories, by Judith Williams. Judith Williams and her husband Bobo are longtime members of the Refuge Cove co-op, and this is a collection of tales mostly about dynamite and how it is the tool of choice for landscaping in Desolation Sound. With chapters titled, “If Two Sticks are Good, Four are Better” (the First Law of Dynamite); ”A Little Extra for Luck”; “There is No Problem a Suitable Amount of High Explosive Will Not Solve”; and others, you can see where this book is going.
The islands of Desolation Sound, as is most of the B.C. coast all the way to Alaska, are mountains, made of granite. If a road, a trail, or a level piece of ground for a house are needed, they have to be blasted out with dynamite. Tree stumps are blasted. Everything is blasted. When the boys doing the blasting are not exactly professional and when they’re often somewhat lubricated to boot, the results are entertaining – at least in the retelling, when enough time has gone by and the missing fingers are accepted.
Judith Williams is an experienced writer who knows how to tell a good story. These tales are written from the perspective of one who’s been living there when the events took place, and the resulting book has the warmth and understanding that come only from an insider.
Like Henry’s Stories, this book was forced on me – by O’Byrne Taylor, owner of the Squirrel Cove general store. She cautioned that the copy editing was awful (and she was right), but that I wouldn’t mind – and she was right again. We know Squirrel Cove carries Dynamite Stories, and I’m sure the Refuge Store carries it as well. Get a copy when you’re cruising. After reading and enjoying every minute, Desolation Sound will have a new dimension for you. $16.00. v
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