When Tom Douglas's father returned home after the Second World War, he was forced to move his family from Sault Ste. Marie north to Wawa, where he was the timekeeper at the Helen Mine. Although his parents were upset by the move, Tom was thrilled. In the forties, Wawa was still a wooden-sidewalked mud wallow of a mining town, and for a city kid, nothing could have been more exciting.
To Wawa with Love is a nostalgic collection of true stories about a time in northern Ontario that still exists only in the author's imagination. These are light-hearted stories about a town teeming with colourful characters, like Doc MacTavish, Wawa's veterinarian and part-time dentist; magical places, like the Lions Club Hall, where a quarter could buy a kid an afternoon at the movies; and comical adventures, like the rescue of Rocky Mitchell from the bottom of the school outhouse on a sub-zero January day.
These warm and humorous vignettes about the way life used to be will delight readers of all ages.
TOM DOUGLAS is the author of four best-selling books of military history--Canadian Spies, D-Day, Great Canadian War Heroes, and Valour at Vimy Ridge. Tom started out as a teacher before becoming a reporter with his hometown newspaper, the Sault Daily Star,/i>. He has also worked with The Canadian Press and served as the publisher/owner of a weekly newspaper in Australia.
My nomination (if I had one) for the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour
To Wawa with Love is a nostalgic collection of true stories about a time in northern Ontario that still exists only in the author's imagination. These are light-hearted stories about a town teeming with colourful charactersÂ…magical placesÂ…and comical adventures...
I have long admired Tom Douglas for his writings on the topic of Canadian military history [see my review of Valour at Vimy Ridge: Canadian Heroes of World War II, but I do believe To Wawa With Love --a charming, witty and hilarious collection of intimate tales--has to be my favourite.
Five bees.
The stories of the soldiers returning from the Second World War become dimmer with each new generation. In To Wawa with Love, Tom Douglas relives the rebuilding years immediately following the war, when returning soldiers and their families attempted a fresh start at building normal lives...With To Wawa with Love, Douglas is keeping that piece of history alive.
He's told many veterans' stories that chronicle the horrors and brutality of war, but now [Tom Douglas is telling a different story about what happens after the guns fall silent.