24 — Friday, April 23, 1999 — North Shore News Gr avi ® Salt Spring: The Story of an Island by Charles Kahn Harbour Publishing 208 Be pp, 100 b&w photos John Goodman This Week Editor Jobng@nsnews.com LIKE many writers before him Charles Kahn has written about the place he calls home. In his case that happens to be Salt Spring Island, the largest of B.C.’s southern Gulf Islands. Kahn’s research into the history of the area makes interesting reading and illuminates many unanswered questions from the carly period of European settlement. From the start Salt Spring hosted a rich multi- cultural mix of people look- ing for a new life. Their ideals influenced the island throughout the course of the 20th century. Recently we got a chance to talk to Kahn about his work. JG: We have had proof- reading wars here about the correct spelling of Salt Spring. CK: People can get very heated about that. I like the two. The argument that two-word people tend to advance is that there were salt springs. And they still exist. It doesn’t make any sense to make it into one word. JG: The population has doubled since 1980 CK: The fast census showed 9,300 people — we know that was low because there's a fot of people the census doesn’t catch, For example, our post office has more addresses than that. The Islands Trust uses a higher figure tor planning. The estimated population today is generally given as 12,000. JG: Have you noticed a change? CK: It’s a heck of a lor husier than it was. And Pve only been here six years. There’s more houses, more development, but a lot of it gets tucked away. JG: What has been the response on Salt Spring to your book? CK: It’s been great. It’s a very imteresting place — a tious communi- ty. As I was writing it peo- ple asked me “Where are you moving when you fin- ish?” It’s the kind of place where people really pola quickly and I was aware of that while I was writing the book. | really felt that I was being a bit of a politician — not so much in the way I wrote it because I don’t think [ compromised any- thing in the writing — but I was certainly careful in talk- ing to everybody. It’s such an explosi community. For example, t debate was so ve people are still not talking to cach other and that’s like 15 years ago now. Photo Jucy Norget AUTHOR Charles Kahn is an active member of Sait Spring Istand’s Historical Society. I wanted desperately to have a book that everybody would be pleased with and part of that was involving as many people as I could. The launch party was a wonderful experience. It was almost like an old- timer’s reunion. People came from off-island just to the launch party. We had about 200-250 people come on Nov. 7. We held it in Mahon Hall which is one of the old halls. I wanted it to have an his: JG: Anything you had to leave out or unfinished? CK: On occasion a person came up to me and said there’s not enough on my family. I haven’ had any- body say — “Why wasn’t I mentioned?” People seem to be very interesting about that. I was trying to give peo- ple who moved to the island — I'm a relative newcomer myself — an opportunity to find our about the area in which they live. JG: Any dead ends in your research? CK: Thad a lot of trouble finding out about Texada Logging. The company owns something like 6,000 acres on the island — they are a major landowner. This German prince came over and bought all this land — but he’s dead now and the company is incredibly close. They don’t talk much and it was difficult to get informa- tion. It was tike trying to find out about the Eaton's family. There are a lot of things that just aren’t documented. All the carly skirmishes between the settlers and the aboriginal people thar are alluded to. I think a lor of that is probably over-exag- gerated Fut its hard to know. There’s a lot of stutt that’s just not there. You tend to rely, toa much greater extent than you'd like to, on newspaper reports. Which again, are based on hearsay. Especially in those days. There might have been Itating towards Salt springs into Victoria or Sydney or wherever the newspaper was. You were really only getting one person’s point of . It's possible when you read them you can identty the person —- like for exam- ple William Hamilton, was one of the people who was originally sending informa- tion in. At the very begin- ning T think Jonathan Bege was se ting reports to the Colonis: “n Victoria. Youre getting one per- son who perhaps has axes to grind. The most outspoken people are the ones that tend to get heard. 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