Download A Secret Gift: How an Act of Kindness Revealed Hidden Lives of the Great Depression AudioBook Free
An inspiring bank account of America at its most detrimental - and Americans at their finest - woven from the testimonies of Depression-era people who had been helped by gifts from the author's ample and secretive grandfather. Shortly before Xmas 1933, in Depression-scarred Canton, Ohio, a small newspaper advertising offered $10, no strings attached, to 75 people in stress. Interested viewers were asked to post letters describing their hardships to a benefactor getting in touch with himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author's grandfather, Sam Natural stone, was inspired to put this advertising and assist his fellow Cantonians as they well prepared for the cruelest Xmas almost all of them would ever witness. Migrated by the stories of suffering and expressions of hope within the words, which he discovered in a suitcase 75 years later, Ted Gup at first set out to unveil the lives behind them, searching for files and relatives from coast to coast who may help him flesh out the family sagas hinted at in those words. From these resources, Gup has re-created the impact that Mr B. Virdot's gift idea acquired on each family. Many people yearned for breads, coal, or other necessities, but numerous others received money from B. Virdot to get more detailed fanciful items: a toy equine, say, or a couple of encyclopedias. As Gup's investigations discovered, all these things had the power to turn people's lives around- even to save lots of them. But as he uncovered the fighting and triumphs of dozens of strangers, Gup also learned that Sam Natural stone was far more complex than the lovable retiree persona he'd always shown his grandson. Gup unearths deeply buried information regarding Sam's life - from his impoverished, abusive upbringing to felonious attempts to cover his immigrant origins from U.S. representatives - that help describe why he sensed such a strong affinity to strangers in need.
