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How One Man\'s Kindness--and a Trove of Letters--Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression
Penguin
November 2010
On Sale: October 26, 2010
384 pages
ISBN: 1594202702
EAN: 9781594202704
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
An inspiring account of America at its worst-and
Americans at their best-woven from the stories of
Depression-era families who were helped by gifts from the
author's generous and secretive grandfather.
Shortly before Christmas 1933 in Depression-scarred Canton,
Ohio, a small newspaper ad offered $10, no strings attached,
to 75 families in distress. Interested readers were asked to
submit letters describing their hardships to a benefactor
calling himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author's grandfather Sam
Stone was inspired to place this ad and assist his fellow
Cantonians as they prepared for the cruelest Christmas most
of them would ever witness.
Moved by the tales of
suffering and expressions of hope contained in the letters,
which he discovered in a suitcase 75 years later, Ted Gup
initially set out to unveil the lives behind them, searching
for records and relatives all over the country who could
help him flesh out the family sagas hinted at in those
letters. From these sources, Gup has re-created the impact
that Mr B. Virdot's gift had on each family. Many people
yearned for bread, coal, or other necessities, but many
others received money from B. Virdot for more fanciful
items-a toy horse, say, or a set of encyclopedias. As Gup's
investigations revealed, all these things had the power to
turn people's lives around- even to save them.
But
as he uncovered the suffering and triumphs of dozens of
strangers, Gup also learned that Sam Stone was far more
complex than the lovable- retiree persona he'd always shown
his grandson. Gup unearths deeply buried details about Sam's
life-from his impoverished, abusive upbringing to felonious
efforts to hide his immigrant origins from U.S.
officials-that help explain why he felt such a strong
affinity to strangers in need. Drawing on his unique find
and his award-winning reportorial gifts, Ted Gup solves a
singular family mystery even while he pulls away the veil of
eight decades that separate us from the hardships that
united America during the Depression. In A Secret
Gift, he weaves these revelations seamlessly into a
tapestry of Depression-era America, which will fascinate and
inspire in equal measure.
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