October 12th 2010
Lee Ann Eckhardt Smith is an award-winning writer of short fiction, as well as non-fiction books and articles. She presents the story of four generations of her mother’s family in Strength Within: The Granger Chronicles. The Gerencsér family arrived in North America in 1905 from Kispécz, Hungary, answering the siren call of “American fever.” Thirty years later, the anglicized Grangers fled depression-torn Buffalo, New York for St. Catharines, Ontario.
More than a genealogy, the book presents life stories coupled with social history, describing the impact of world events and everyday life on the Gerencsér family. It provides a vivid, first-hand view of these Hungarian immigrants, their assimilation and successes.
Strength Within: The Granger Chronicles is available through Lee Ann’s website, www.grangerchronicles.com, as well as from Baico Publishing in Ottawa and Canada Books Online (www.canadabooksonline.com). Copies have also been placed at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and Calgary, University of Quebec in Chicoutimi, the Hungarian Cultural Society in Winnipeg and the Hungarian School in Vancouver.
Lee Ann is currently at work on a new book, the historical adventure story, Muskoka’s Main Street: The Muskoka Colonization Road. Her blog, “Work in Progress” chronicles the process of writing this book. She also offers a workshop series in Ottawa and Perth, Ontario, called, “How To Write Family History and Memoir, Even if You’re Not a Writer.” Please see her website for more information.
Erzébet (Liza) Vastagh, (left), wife of the former Hungarian Ambassador to Canada and Lee Ann Eckhardt Smith, February 3, 2010.