Behind-the-Scenes Stories from "The Movie Years"

Technical crew in the Trenton studio, 1927.

Occasionally, I still get asked to speak to a group about that time in the history of our town, Trenton, Ontario, when it was home to a flourishing movie-making industry.

The reason for this is the small book I wrote about it back in 1989. Although it was never a bestseller, it continues to sell locally, and once in a while someone who is interested in early Canadian film requests a copy from my dwindling stock.

A person from the audience once told me, after one of my presentations, that it was the little behind-the-scene stories he most enjoyed. It was as if I were "telling secrets." Now I make sure to include a few in every talk.

Like the one about the cameraman from Universal Studios in California who kept a wolf in his backyard while he was here in Trenton.

Or about Tyrone Power Sr. who came to town in 1919 to star in The Great Shadow. He brought with him a "beautiful lady." His secretary, he called her, but the locals had other ideas. Especially when he used to like to borrow a yacht from the local pharmacist in order to take his lady out on the water for a bit of sightseeing.

And there was Louise Cardi, the actress who played the temptress, the estaminet girl in Carry On, Sergeant!" (1927–1928), who comforts the lonely soldier. Cardi had had no previous acting experience before this movie. She was a shop girl the director's wife had spotted in a New York City department store.

The early film stars were familiar figures on the streets in town, shopping in the local stores, looking for rooms to rent. And if you happened to own a coonskin coat you could sell it for almost any amount to one of the movie people. Or so the story goes.

More on School Visits. My May Events.

A successful author visit.

"I trust you are still expecting me to make a presentation at your school next week."

If you're a writer who does school visits I hope you've never had to send an email like the above. I have, and it's most uncomfortable. All the arrangements had been made a couple of months prior to the date of the event, and then — nothing. I was left to wonder if it was still "a go." I'm sure I'm not the only one this has happened to.

In my opinion, one of the most important elements in a successful author visit is frequent contact between the host and the guest. Every couple of weeks is good. Don't worry; you're not bothering me. It gives us both the opportunity to make sure we know each other's expectations.

How many students will I be talking to? Which grades? Where will I be speaking? For how long? Will I have the use of the school's digital projector? A Smartboard? Are the students familiar with any of my books?

I would like to suggest the contact person be someone other than the administrator or principal. She already has too much to look after. The librarian or library technician, even a classroom teacher is a better choice.

If you are the contact person at the school, remember to let your guest know where they may park, which door to use (many schools keep doors to the outside locked). Hopefully, the guest author has told you her ETA. It's a great idea to have someone at the door to greet her, perhaps a responsible student. The greeter might show her where to hang her coat and sign in, and then take her to the place where she'll be presenting. Remember to introduce her to any staff members present.

A memorable visit with school classes at Campbellford Library

The best visits are when the whole school is aware that there is an author in the building. It creates excitement. How lovely to be greeted with huge smiles in the halls. "You must be the author!"

I've visited schools where they've even posted a "welcome" on the outdoor display, or hung a banner in the entrance hall. But even a mention in the morning announcements over the PA is special and makes the author know she is appreciated.

And here's a tip to presenters who are new to this game. Get the matter of your fee out of the way early on in your conversations with the contact person. I hope they will ask you outright what you charge, but otherwise, it's up to you. It's the professional thing to do.

My May Events

Reading from Growing Up Ivy at the Community Living Book Club
Wednesday, May 8th. 1:30–2:30
3rd floor Meeting Room. Belleville Public Library. Belleville

Presentation on The Movie Years, my book about Canada's Film-making capital, Trenton ON, 1917–34
Brighton Probus Club
Wednesday, May 22, 11 a.m.
King Edward Community Centre, Brighton

Some Thoughts on School Visits

A school visit from last year.

I was privileged last week to give two presentations at an elementary school in a village about forty minutes from my home. At this stage in my writing career, school visits are few and far between. One reason for that could be that for the past three years I've concentrated on writing biographies for an older audience. But it's still a pleasure to get to interact with children in the schools, and I count myself lucky if I get to do at least one presentation each year.

The busiest years for this sort of thing were those years when I had a book nominated for one of the Forest of Reading awards. It strikes me as odd that even then, most of the visits I did were in school board districts other than my own. Around here,  it seems as if the schools aren't aware that authors are available to deliver entertaining, educational, and enlightening programs for their students. Or that there is a subsidy program administered by the Writers' Union to help finance said visit. I don't know why that is, except perhaps because where I live we no longer have full-time librarians in the schools.

If you are considering inviting an author to visit your school, a good place to start is with the Writers' Union website. www.writersunion.ca. Under Programs, look for Ontario-Writers-in-the Schools Pregram for information about subsidies. On this site you'll also find a list of members who give presentations, what type of programs they offer, and how far they might be willing to travel.

You can also find information about children's writers available to do school visits at the website of the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP): www.canscaip.org and at the website of the Canadian Children's Book Centre: www.bookcentre.ca. A couple of these sites will also give you the amount of the author's fee.

The vast majority of Canadian writers also have their own personal websites, so if you know whom you'd like to invite, be sure you check these out.

Stay tuned! More on School Visits next time.

Some Local Colour

Upper Castle (Canajoharie) Church, built in 1769.

Sometimes, while researching, I'll come across a small story, an interesting tidbit of colour in the midst of all the dates and details. Such is the following that I found while investigating the life of Molly Brant.

More has been written about Joseph Brant than Molly, his older sister. That could be because he was male, and historians of the 18th and 19th centuries tended to ignore female subjects; and Captain Joseph Brant, a decorated military veteran, was a more flamboyant figure. But both are credited with keeping five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy on the side of the British during the American Revolution.

In 1769 Sir William Johnson, Molly Brant's common-law husband and the father of her eight children, had a church built for the Mohawk of Canajoharie. The wealthy and influential Superintendent of Indian Affairs of the northern colonies, Sir William was also a member of the Society for the Preservation of the Gospel. He paid for the church out of his own pocket, as a favour to Molly and her people.

The loyalist Mohawk had fled the area for their lives, heading to Canada in 1777, along with Molly and Joseph. Sometime later, some of them returned, arriving in the middle of the night with a plan to steal the bell from their church at Upper Castle.

They managed to lower the bell from the steeple and secure it to a branch in order to carry it between them. They hadn't tied down the clapper, however, and as they were leaving the scene, the clapper clanged against the bell, waking the locals. These stout souls scrambled from their beds and hurried to save the bell from the would-be thieves. 

One can only imagine the scene that ensued!

The little church still stands today, just off Route 5 South, near Canajoharie in central New York State. It was moved and remodelled in 1850, but the bell is as it was the night the Mohawk tried to reclaim it.

Reading Aloud and Loving It

Last week I was honoured to be one of a group of guest readers at a local elementary school in celebration of Family Literacy Day. Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by staff and the Grade Eight students who would be our greeters, our tour guides, and the ones to introduce us to each class.

As we moved from class to class at fifteen minute intervals we shared the books we had chosen with the students from kindergarten to Grade Seven. Our Grade Eight ambassadors sometimes got to hear the stories more than once, but they never complained and remained helpful and courteous throughout.

When the bell rang to signal that it was time to move on we were hustled along the hall to the next classroom. The team who helped me find my next stop were three sweet girls — Amanda, Tamara, and Zoë (who also happens to be my granddaughter). That meant I was introduced as "Peggy Dymond Leavey, Local Author and Zoë's Grandmother" (also Miles's when we got to the Grade Four room).

It was a fun morning. I believe you're never too old to enjoy being read to, and there are wonderful picture books out there that work for all ages.

Here are a few tips in case you are lucky enough to be asked to read aloud to someone some day.

If you have only fifteen minutes, picture books of more than forty pages are too long to complete. 
Time your selection carefully.
Practise, practise, practise. 
Be familiar with the story you are reading so that you can make frequent eye contact with your audience; you'll want to gauge their reaction.
Use appropriate facial expressions.
Emote, react, change the tone of your voice to suit the character or the situation.
LOVE the book you choose. It took me three trips to the public library to find the perfect picture books. 

So, which books did I choose?

Kindergarten & Grade One: The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson; Please Louise, by Frieda Wishinsky.
Grade Two & Three: My Sister Gracie, by Gillian Johnson; Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes.
Grade Four & Five: Probuditi, by Chris Van Allsburg. (Fun to see the children "get it.")
Grade Six & Seven: The Real Story of The Big Bad Wolf, by A. Wolf, as told to Jon Scieszka;                               The Stinky Cheese Man, by Jon Scieszka.

On Loving Books

My book-loving Dad with my older sister, Mary, and me in Quebec City. 

Some of the hardest possessions to part with are books. I'm trying to de-clutter these days (aren't we all, in January?) and decided that our bookshelves were long overdue for a purging.

I can be fairly ruthless when it comes to getting rid of paperback picture books or old board books that even the grandchildren have outgrown, but books that have been family favourites will always have a place in our home. As will books that have tender inscriptions in them. Or books that have been signed by the author. I come by this love of books quite honestly.

The other day, while sorting, I came across a tiny, hardcover book called Coaches and Coaching, by Leigh Hunt. I have it here on my desk. It looks a little scruffy, and it is obviously quite old because the pages are yellowed. Printed in Edinburgh, Scotland, there is no publication date, which I find disappointing.

My mother had given it to me after Dad died in 1992. Inside, I find a note on a slip of paper. Mom's note explains that my father bought the book because it was small enough to fit in a pocket. He liked to have a small volume with him wherever he went, my mother explained, so that he was never without something to read.

If you love books, you probably share that sentiment. What do we do if we have nothing to read??

On Starting to Write

I feel a sense of anticipation now. After months of reading and dabbling at research, I am about to start writing. There will be more of this fact-finding work to come, including visits to Kingston and the Cataraqui Archaelogical Research Centre, the Anglican Diocese of Ontario Archives and I hope, another trip to the Mohawk Valley in New York to follow up on research I began there late last year.

But now I am eager to start the actual writing, to see how the story begins to flow (or not!), to breathe life into the legendary heroine, Molly Brant, Mohawk Loyalist. Once again, I have taken over the dining room table in our house.

Write on!