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Zachary’s Gold (Oolichan $12.95)
IF AMERICA HAD THE WILD WEST, we had the tame one. Whereas Canadians dolefully kowtow to authority, barely protesting when our government imposes the War Measures Act, Americans are psychologically and constitutionally programmed to have sympathy for the underdog who battles against the odds, resentful of the law. It all goes back to the Boston Tea Party and the British Empire. The Yanks were the black sheep who broke free; we 'were the dutiful offspring who remained obedient. We stayed in the 'Commonwealth' family, kept the Union Jack as our flag and even maintain an antiquated name for our western-most province. American storytellers have frequently celebrated outlaws such as Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Bonnie & Clyde and Prohibition gangsters. As the support for O.J. Simpson attests, Americans still 'relate' to criminals as heroes. Whereas we value law 'n' order. Our best-known pioneers in B.C. were Judge Matthew Begbie, the Dunsmuir coal barons, lawman Sam Steele and Sir James Douglas.
This has affected our fiction - the way we relate to heroes and villains. Stan Krumm's first novel Zachary's Gold (Oolichan $12.95) is a case in point. Zachary Beddoes, an ex-Pinkerton agent from the U.S., arrives in the Klondike in the 186Os, naively seeking his fortune. He is stymied until he kills a man in self-defence. The dead man's cache of stolen gold suddenly makes him a rich man and a desperado before he can explain. Wounded, he needs the help of a Chinese prospector, 'Rosh' to survive. Should he give himself up to the mercy of the law or take his chances with Rosh in the bush? There are shoot-outs, racist misunderstandings, a desperate bid to kidnap Rosh's wife ... and Zachary remains a cold and frightened victim of circumstance throughout. The devil didn't make him do it, ironically the law did. Not unlike Simon Gun-an-noot, the Gitskan outlaw who evaded police for 13 years in the Skeena wilderness (and was eventually acquitted of a murder charge), Zachary Beddoes is the stuff of which American legends and movies could be made. But as an outlaw above the 49th parallel, he receives no public sympathy in the 1860s whatsoever.
"I want people to enjoy the fact that we have a wonderful history that's full of fantastic stories in British Columbia,"; says Krumm, "We don't have to go to the American Old West to find entertainment. When I went to university I swore that I would never come back to Quesnel. Terrible hole. Ten years later I moved back thinking 'This is a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to write about.'"
Krumm works as a goldsmith in his family's business. He previously lived in Wells, next to Barkerville. He told Cecelia Walters of CBC's Almanac that he pans for gold about once a year - for about half an hour, until his hands get cold - but he understands the lure of gold panning all the same. "It's the expectation," he says, "People do the same thing buying lottery tickets. In a world where we have a tremendous standard of living we still - a lot of us - don't have a great feeling of expectation. We don't have something coming up tomorrow that might be just fantastic." Krumm's expectation of hitting it big centres on his writing. "The town of Quesnel has been amazingly supportive and receptive," he says, "Everyone is pleased. It's a bit like someone from a small town getting drafted by the Canucks or becoming a pop music performer. It's a reminder that these things are possible." 0-88982-138-0
[Alan Twigg / BCBW 1994] "Cariboo" "Fiction"
This has affected our fiction - the way we relate to heroes and villains. Stan Krumm's first novel Zachary's Gold (Oolichan $12.95) is a case in point. Zachary Beddoes, an ex-Pinkerton agent from the U.S., arrives in the Klondike in the 186Os, naively seeking his fortune. He is stymied until he kills a man in self-defence. The dead man's cache of stolen gold suddenly makes him a rich man and a desperado before he can explain. Wounded, he needs the help of a Chinese prospector, 'Rosh' to survive. Should he give himself up to the mercy of the law or take his chances with Rosh in the bush? There are shoot-outs, racist misunderstandings, a desperate bid to kidnap Rosh's wife ... and Zachary remains a cold and frightened victim of circumstance throughout. The devil didn't make him do it, ironically the law did. Not unlike Simon Gun-an-noot, the Gitskan outlaw who evaded police for 13 years in the Skeena wilderness (and was eventually acquitted of a murder charge), Zachary Beddoes is the stuff of which American legends and movies could be made. But as an outlaw above the 49th parallel, he receives no public sympathy in the 1860s whatsoever.
"I want people to enjoy the fact that we have a wonderful history that's full of fantastic stories in British Columbia,"; says Krumm, "We don't have to go to the American Old West to find entertainment. When I went to university I swore that I would never come back to Quesnel. Terrible hole. Ten years later I moved back thinking 'This is a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to write about.'"
Krumm works as a goldsmith in his family's business. He previously lived in Wells, next to Barkerville. He told Cecelia Walters of CBC's Almanac that he pans for gold about once a year - for about half an hour, until his hands get cold - but he understands the lure of gold panning all the same. "It's the expectation," he says, "People do the same thing buying lottery tickets. In a world where we have a tremendous standard of living we still - a lot of us - don't have a great feeling of expectation. We don't have something coming up tomorrow that might be just fantastic." Krumm's expectation of hitting it big centres on his writing. "The town of Quesnel has been amazingly supportive and receptive," he says, "Everyone is pleased. It's a bit like someone from a small town getting drafted by the Canucks or becoming a pop music performer. It's a reminder that these things are possible." 0-88982-138-0
[Alan Twigg / BCBW 1994] "Cariboo" "Fiction"
Submitted on December 15, 2005 in By David.
