Local author to read at Castlegar Library
By Contributor
In 1999 Judy Smith and her husband, Roger Cristofoli, had reached rock bottom.
In spite of having university degrees, technical training and years of experience, they were unable to find employment anywhere in Canada. They were in their mid-50s. The bank was eager to take possession of their Castlegar home and the concept of living on welfare in a cardboard box was fast becoming a reality.
They happened across an ad for teaching English in Korea, and that started a ten-year adventure of living and working in Korea, Thailand, Oman and China, with briefs forays into Poland and Jordan. They have now returned to retire in Castlegar and are pleased to share their accounts with friends and neighbours.
“Out of Poverty: Living and Teaching in Asia” is an account of their adventures using prose, poetry, letters to home and from colleagues, and over 55 coloured photographs.
“Smith’s book is as much about the various cultures and specific people she and her partner experience as it is about the teaching itself,” said local columnist and former city councillor Gord Turner.
Copies are available from:
e-books: Kindle, Kobo and Nook
Paper books: Amazon, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble
Prices and shipping costs/times vary.
Judy Smith will be reading from her book on May 25 at the Castlegar Public Library at 7 pm. A slide show of photos from six countries will in part be narrated by Roger Cristofoli. A few signed copies will be available for purchase at $25.
Judy Smith, R.N., BFA, is the author of Native Blood: Nursing on the Reservation (Oberon Press, 1994) and of numerous short stories, prose and poetry in Canadian literary magazines. She is retired and lives with her husband in Castlegar.
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