Editorially speaking…
I don’t think I’ll ever really understand Facebook. Or even, as in this case, email.
I mean, what kind of digital genie delivers a message four months after the fact? Where has it been all this time, up in the ether? Talk about snail mail!
To begin at the beginning: Years ago, I told the story of Cobble Hill pioneer and part time author George Cheeke who wrote one of the most enjoyable ‘ghost’ stories I’ve ever read, better even than TV’s Rod Serling and Twilight Zone.
Back in January, his grandson, Peter, in Oregon, wrote me:
Hello Mr. Paterson: I have seen the story, Tale of the Koksilah by George A. Cheeke which you have published a couple of times in Cowichan Chronicles. George A. was my grandfather. His son, George C. Cheeke, was my father. He died in 1968 at age 64. He did quite a lot of writing, but never got any of it published. I am currently writing my memoirs and family history under the title Tales from Cobble Mountain. So I have a couple of questions for you.
Cobble Hill village as it looked when George Cheeke was writing his heart out but not getting published. —Author’s Collection
Where did you find Tale of the Koksilah? I have searched the Internet and have not come up with anything. You mentioned that it was the winner of a writing contest. The only glimmer I have of that is that according to my dad, a story by his father was published in a magazine, and Geo A. was quite annoyed by it because someone else submitted it without his permission.
So I thought there must be something out there. I would be grateful if you could enlighten me on where you found it. Secondly, I have my father’s writings. There are a couple of short stories, again involving Burnt Bridge and the Koksilah area, which I think are quite good. I’m wondering if you might be interested in publishing them in the CC, as you did with Geo A.’s story. If you would like to take a look at them, I could email them to you.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Regards, Peter Cheeke
Sent from my iPad
Here I am, accusing email of being slow, and I, as so often happens, was facing a big deadline, so I stalled him: Hello, Peter:
“50 emails a day (and Facebook) have become a job in itself so I'll have to get back to you on this. Offhand, I can't remember where I found George's wolf story so I'm going to have to dig into my files. I shall reply asap.”
Well, sad to say, it was April 3rd before I got back to him:
Hi, Peter:
FINALLY, a chance to try to properly answer your email. (This is my second and last day of answering my backlog of mail, you're in luck!)
I have searched my files which include every article that appeared in the Cowichan Leader by Nathan A. Dougan, the foremost historian of Cobble Hill, Cowichan My Valley, a distillation of his articles published in a book by his son Robert, and Adelaide Ellis' At the Foot of the Hill where I found her brief mention of your grandfather.
Both are out of print, by the way, the former now very expensive online.
But to no avail. I'm convinced (this is memory speaking) I found it in the Cowichan Leader, probably while looking for something else altogether. I can't account for why I can't locate the original transcript [in my files], but that, I'm afraid, is an occupational hazard for an author/historian who has written 37 books, 1000s of newspaper and magazine articles totalling millions of words, and who has amassed a personal archives the size of that in the Cowichan Valley Museum.
The real problem lies in that so much of my archives is pre-digital, meaning that I have to physically pore through my files, books and, and, and... And my memory works more like an old Rolodex—I remember key words but not, necessarily, the details, so I must consult my files for the real gold.
In trying to answer you, I've pulled the story I wrote on your Grandfather from Volume 3 of my Cowichan Chronicles books (now up to the sixth volume).
I would be most interested in seeing your father's mss. on Burnt Bridge and the Koksilah area if you're still willing to share them.
Again, my apologies for taking so long to get back to you. As explained above, even my part time secretary needs a secretary these days.
Cheers, TW
I guess the moral of the story, if there is one, is that I must try to answer my mail more promptly. But that, of course, won’t deter email from arriving on my digital desk from out of the blue, months after the fact.
Oh, and I’m sorry to say, Mr. Cheeke never did send me the other stories by his grandfather that he offered.
Maybe they’re in the mail.
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