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Long-time Coney Island summer resident Lyn Thompson was at the Kenora Public Library on Tuesday to donate her latest book, Bella: A Woman of Courage.
The book is about the life events of Bella, Thompson’s grandmother, and how she persevered through all the hardships she faced while growing up and raising a family.
“She had rickets, with the curved legs and the small chest and lung congestion,” explained Thompson. “She lived in Plymouth (England) and the doctors said to her when she was 24, ‘if you don’t go away to a warm climate you’ll be dead by the time you’re 30’.”
From there, Thompson’s grandmother was shipped away from home and faced a long road of hardships ahead. Bella was happily married a year after moving away, but became widowed after eight years of marriage. Having to raise and support three children on her own, she moved to Boston to pursue a business in gown making. She did well until her business was pulled out from underneath her by big manufacturing companies and production lines, causing Bella to move yet again and find another new career.
“She started her life five times,” said Thompson. “She was always looking to the future, she never worried about the past. The past was the past, it had to be dealt with and then you moved on.”
Thompson, who currently resides in Calgary during the winter, put the book together by listening to her grandmother’s stories and her father’s stories, who was Bella’s oldest son. Thompson also spent her fair share of time doing research, lots and lots of research.
Although the book is based off real life events her grandmother and father experienced, Thompson still categorizes the book as fiction because much of the information in the book is based on extensive research she has done. She also has changed the names of all her relatives in the book, but they will still recognize who is who as she used their second names, she said.
At 82, Thompson has been writing for about 20 years and has previously published other books including Hypothermia: The Silent Killer and a poetry book called Outhouse Memories & Other Cottage Poems.
Thompson donated Bella to the Kenora Public Library and HoJoe Coffeehouse & Book Store. She will be hosting the official book launch in October after she’s enjoyed her summer on Coney Island.
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