Born in 1927 on a prairie farm, Shirley D. Stainton (nee Hall) grew up in the Slocan Valley at a time when the region was mainly mining communities nestled in the valleys of the Arrow, Slocan, and Kootenay Lakes. Many of those communities are now ghost towns and it's hard to imagine the hub of economic and social activity they once were. In her book, published posthumously, Children of the Kootenays: Memories of Mining Towns (Heritage $22.95), Stainton shows what a great place it was to grow up with wilderness and wild animals at her doorstep; and how the tight-knit friendships formed were enough to overcome barely imaginable struggles during the 1930s. She reveals little-known historical tidbits such as the Civic Centre at 719 Vernon Street in Nelson has been around long enough to become the oldest operating arena and skating rink in British Columbia. It's where she learned the winter sport of curling in the 1940s. Stainton died in the month of January, 2018. 978-1-77203-185-0

Photo: Shirley Stainton in 1942, Sheep Creek, BC

BOOKS

Children of the Kootenays: Memories of Mining Towns (Heritage 2018) $22.95 978-1-77203-185-0

[BCBW 2018]