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Dawne McKenzie
Ernest Diss is the unknowing author of this book. Because he was a bit of a showman, he would be pleased to have his letters read and appreciated a century later.He immigrated to Canada at the age ...view moreErnest Diss is the unknowing author of this book. Because he was a bit of a showman, he would be pleased to have his letters read and appreciated a century later.He immigrated to Canada at the age of fourteen. It speaks very well of his mother's tutelage that his descriptions of the world around him are so complete and well written. Perhaps that ability comes from his wide and varied experiences in the first twenty-eight years of his life before enlisting.Ernest does an excellent job of sharing his life with Amy. So much so, that she falls in love with him, agrees to marry him, and leaves her family to move to British Columbia.We are so fortunate that Amy saw fit to preserve her letters allowing us to share their world.Dawne McKenzie is president of the Hart Cam Museum Committee and lives in Hartney, Manitoba. One of her duties is to ensure all new artifacts that are donated to the museum are entered into the computer inventory system. When entering the letter Ernest wrote to Amy on the day WW1 ended, she became excited over its contents. She contacted Mary Graham to thank her for donating such an important piece of history. Mary informed her that there were many more letters and asked if she would like to read them. After doing so, she thought the letters should be placed into a book. Mary agreed and donated the letters to the museum. The museum committee endorsed the project. After digitalizing the letters, Dawne enjoyed researching the Diss and Graham family trees and writing the foreword and epilogue portions of this book.Dawne's main qualification is a deep appreciation of history and the belief that by looking back in time, we can better understand where we come from. In today's uncertain times of the Covid-19 virus, it is interesting to look back to 1918 and compare these times to those of the Spanish flu. Both were epidemics which originated from avian genes and killed millions of people worldwide. Both started out with flu-like symptoms and developed into pneumonia.Dawne's writing resume consists of writing a monthly column in the local newspaper featuring various artifacts and activities associated with the museum.She hopes you enjoy reading this book as much as she did, and gain insight into life which was much simpler one-hundred years ago, although just as uncertain and frightening.view less