The story
Earlier this year, Port Moody's Patricia Skidmore saw her first book published: Marjorie, Too Afraid To Cry: A Home Child Experience. The work, which took years of research in two countries, traced her mother's journey as a home child in 1937 to Fairbridge Farm School on Vancouver Island.
Marjorie spent five years there with her brother and sister, thousands of kilometres away from their family in northern England. That time at the farm school hardened her mother but, in 2010, she and other British home children got a formal apology - in person - from Prime Minister Gordon Brown on behalf of the British government.
Skidmore, who edits the Fairbridge Gazette, and her book got immediate attention and kudos when it came out including from former home children; historians; Canada's high commissioner for England, Gordon Campbell; and residents in her mother's hometown of Oliver.
The latest
Skidmore has spent the past year speaking about her book, which has been excerpted and critiqued by magazines and other publications. Currently, she is writing a sequel that will give an account of her mother's daily life at the farm school. The Centennial secondary graduate has also updated her slideshow for scheduled talks and, in February during Heritage Week, Skidmore will speak about her research at the New Westminster Library.
