Whitehouse Author Relates Life, Times During Great Depression
(Staff Photo By Mark Roberts)
Local Author Grace Lundmark
By ASHLIE OSBURN
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Billowing dust clouds overshadowed and smothered struggling farmers and their families during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.
That is just one aspect local author Grace Lundmark has captured in her novel “Chloe May: Daughter of the Dust Bowl”, which portrays the stouthearted life of her mother and the rest of the Whitehurst family living on the Oklahoma plains during the Dust Bowl and The Great Depression.
Mrs. Lundmark said her inspiration came when she began sifting through her mother’s belongings, after she had passed away.
“When I was putting away some of her things, it was like it was dropped into my heart that I needed to write a book about it, a least for my children and grandchildren’s sake,” she said.
Her novel is a portal into the living conditions her mother, Chloe May, as well as millions more determined to survive during such tragic times for our country.
“That’s really what I wanted my grandchildren to think is that things haven’t always been like they are now. That times have been very hard for us and we can survive,” Mrs. Lundmark said.
Working as a church secretary, she compiled the contents of her book over a span of five years during the evenings.
“I love to read and I love to write books, like my mother and my father before me. I guess that’s probably why it was born in my heart,” she said.
She said one of the treasures of her book is an account of a relocation journey the family took out of the Oklahoma panhandle, through the mountains of Albuquerque.
The narrative is based on stories Chloe May told Ms. Lundmark as well as a description her uncle had written during the pinnacle of the dust bowl.
Moments of complete exhaustion and astonishment filled the journey after multiple delays while crossing the barren Oklahoma land into New Mexico in an old Model T Ford, bartering for fuel, oil and tires along the way.
Even the cover of her book mirrors the climate and appearance of the arid plains during such a parched and impoverished moment in time.
“I think this is such a new part of our history that it hasn’t had a lot written about it yet, but I think people are becoming more and more interested in that time period,” Mrs. Lundmark said.
Her historical novel truthfully depicts the details of a poverty-stricken family and country within humorous and relatable stories of her family and personal narratives.
“It’s kind of like having accomplished something that you’ve always known you wanted to do. Probably if I had a dream, it was to write a book someday, and I hope to continue writing,” she said.
FAQ
Search Forums
Log in
Register
