THE THIRD CROP — A VERY HUMAN HISTORY OF THE SLOCAN VALLEY AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE

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Spent this afternoon at the launch of Rita Moir's new book, The Third Crop, at the Vallican Whole in Winlaw. It was a beautiful day. We picked up neighbours, Robin and Rebecca, and drove up the Slocan Valley, resplendent in garden greens and summer browns and managed to park reasonably close to the Whole. There must have been 200 people who came out to celebrate with Rita.

There was a huge cake and lots of other goodies to enjoy.

Rita got to sign lots of books, both before and after she spoke about its conception, gestation and birth, thanking the many midwives who assisted as well as the three young writers whose work also appears in the book, Natasha Jmieff, Jordan Mounteer and Martina Avis, who Rita calls "the fourth crop".

                                                                                      

Poet Natasha Jmieff. 

Cameras everywhere, in this case, Judie's!

Publisher Diane Morriss of Sono Nis Press, who published The Third Crop.

 Rita, listening to Diane's introduction.

It was a rapt audience. Pretty much always is, when Rita is the focus of attention. She spoke about the importance of community, a theme she explores in the book.

 Got to see lots of friends. That's Shelley and Heather, with Bonnie in the background.

Heather and me. There must have been a book table nearby! (Photo by Judie Gray)

The place was crawling with writers, of course. Anne DeGrace (whose next book, Flying with Amelia, launches next month!) and Tom Wayman in conversation.

The launch was barely over and already there were people outside on the porch enjoying the book!

And what a book it is! It chronicles the people who lived and worked in the Slocan Valley until the 1940s in a winning combination of Rita Moir's exquisite language and the wonderful photographs she talks about. It begins: "Four distinct groups of people arrived in the Slocan Valley, through choice or by force, by the middle of the Second World War...Aboriginal people lived in this valley first; then came the European and Doukhobour settlers, then the Japanese-Canadians." 

One of the wonderful photographs in the book. This one's of a wedding party in 1950.

I'm looking forward to reading The Third Crop, and to examining more closely all the pictures. My parents came to Bonnington and South Slocan in 1911 and 1921. I know how many albums and shoeboxes of old photographs there are in my family. I cannot imagine the work that went into amassing all these and annotating them so clearly. Kudos to Rita and the team at Sono Nis.

That was my day. How was yours?

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CELEBRATE RITA MOIR'S "THE THIRD CROP" AUGUST 21st!!

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Rita in Ymir last fall, hard at work on The Third Crop

Rita Moir has a new book and she's launching it at the Vallican Whole on Sunday, August 21st, at 3:30 PM. 


The Third Crop is the story of the Slocan Valley from the 1800s to the early 1940s. It has over 160 photographs culled from government archives and personal collections, with Rita weaving the stories she discovered into an wonderfully cohesive whole. The Third Crop is Rita's fourth book. It's published by Sono Nis Press. 


The Slocan Valley is an absolutely stunning part of south eastern British Columbia, conveniently located right near where I live in the West Kootenays. I've been going there since I was a kid and to this day it remains, for me, a step back in time. Oh, it's got all the modcons—cell phones, somewhat regrettably, actually work here and there in the valley now and you can get high-speed Internet, but drive the highway or one of the less traveled roads that follow the meandering Slocan River and you'll be bewitched by the beauty of the place in any season. 


I will admit to having a bit of a soft spot for the area because Ted and I got married at the Vallican Whole, where Rita's launch will take place. (One of our guests who was from Toronto went for a walk in the woods at one point and came back rhapsodizing because she'd encountered a deer. There's always some form of wildlife to admire; not always human.) The Whole is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month with a weekend party August 26-28.