Terrence Rundle West (otherwise known as Terry), gave a lively presentation about his recent novel, “A Time to Disappear” on October 9. His talk turned out to be about two things, one being the novel itself, and the other being his childhood in Hearst, Ontario, which inspired the novel. This made for a very interesting evening!
When Terry was growing up in the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s, the northern Ontario town of Hearst had a population of about 2,200. Most of the population was Franco-Ontarian. There were some Anglophones, like Terry’s family who owned the local grocery store. There was also a relatively large group of Finnish speakers, about 400 out of the 2,200. So Terry grew up in a town where hearing Finnish was an everyday occurrence, and I must say I was impressed by his pronunciation of Finnish names (not that I speak Finnish myself, but it sounded very convincing!)
You could tell that Terry had been a curious, open-minded child and he has obviously not lost those qualities over time! Growing up, he had wondered about these Finnish speakers. What were they doing in Hearst? What were there stories? “A Time to Disappear” is the result of his extensive research into that population both in Ontario and in Finland during the period around World War II.
Terry learned that the first Finns to come to northern Ontario were mostly single men who came in the 1930’s, hoping to farm the forested land. The land turned out to be unsuitable for farming, so forestry became their livelihood. They built cabins in the woods and then sent for their families, eventually moving into town and becoming part of the community when the wood on their land had been depleted.
His research led Terry to understand the hardships the Finns he encountered as a child must have endured. The Winter War against the Soviet Union in 1939 and 1940 was followed by the Continuation War which lasted until 1944 and then finally the Lapland War against Nazi Germany. Finland suffered catastrophic death rates during these wars. Many northern Ontario Finns returned to Finland to fight. Those who were left behind would certainly have had family in Finland to worry about as well.
Terry’s novel centres around a young Finnish man living in Hearst who returns to Finland to join the fighting. It also features a German prisoner of war working in the lumber camps south of Hearst. Terry assured us that the timelines and sequences are accurate and that the German prisoner of war is based on a real individual. As he outlined the plot to us and read a couple of excerpts, I could tell that this was a novel of intrigue and suspense.
A retired teacher, Terry believes that a well-written historical novel can be an excellent teaching tool. I am looking forward to reading “A Time to Disappear” to learn more about this particular part of our Canadian mosaic. It promises to be an entertaining read!
Lennard Sillanpäa, having grown up in a Finnish family in northern Ontario with a father and an uncle involved in the wars during the time period covered in the novel, thanked Terry very much for his most interesting presentation.
“A Time to Disappear” can be ordered online from Indigo at: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/a-time-to-disappear-a-northern-ontario-novel/9780981277318.html
Pictured below are, left to right, Terry West, Lennard Sillanpäa, CNS President Trygve Ringereide and Vice-president Bruce Miller. Thank you to Marian McLennan for the photos from this event.
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