Book inspires memories
Local stories
Karen Peterson
Renee Loehr, Donna Cheff and Lucille Ashby look for a location on a map related to the book.
Karen Peterson
Donna Cheff talks about the main details in the book.
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Lillian Stephenson is the daughter of the main character in the nonfiction book read by the group.
Karen Peterson
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RONAN – Many people immigrated to the United States in the past and some even ended up in Lake County.
“If only I knew a movie producer,” Donna Cheff, said of a story of one of those immigrants.
Marie Johnson’s story hasn’t made it to the movies, but it was developed into a 193-page book titled “A Cup of Tears.” It was written by Florence Smith and Bonnie Kay Worley, and published in 2000 by Stoneydale Press Publishing Company.
Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana and the Ronan Library sponsored a “book chat” focusing on the book. The first of four meetings started on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
“We find books that have something to do with local history,” said Cheff, event coordinator. And this selection is about “Marie and her trek through Siberia.”
Johnson grew up in Russia in the 1900s. She escaped Siberia during the Bolshevik Revolution and ended up in Polson in 1924 on a homestead. The book ends with a few chapters describing Johnson’s life as a homesteader in Polson with her husband Carl and children. And it describes their first home in the area.
“For the family, a sixteen by sixteen foot army tent was placed on a wooden frame with boarded sides about four feet high,” the book says. “Packed soil provided a cold floor for the tent. The first two winters they had lived in Polson, the weather had been mild. They were sure the tent would be sufficient until they had time and money to build a more permanent structure.”
Johnson did eventually get a larger home and more land. She died in 1992, but her daughter, Lillian Stephenson, attended the book discussion.
“My parents moved to Polson looking for work,” she said. “In Polson, they raised fox furs.”
The book inspired a discussion about the many immigrants related to members of the group. They had parents and grandparents who came to the area from places like Italy, Sweden, Germany, and Norway. They often related to the events in the book. Lucille Ashby shared her experience including memories of an outdoor toilet and getting to school.
“My grandmother came from Sweden,” she said adding that her family lived on a farm when she was a child. “I remember we had to go two and a half miles to get to school. I preferred to walk but others would ride a horse.”
Floss Felsman said she could relate to the stories about immigrant relatives but only partly.
“My grandfather was from Germany,” she said. “And my grandmother was an American Indian.”
Future discussions continue at the Library at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays through February. For more information, call 406-676-2837.
