FRANK WAYNE MOTTL : MYTHMOULDER PUBLISHING AND ART
THE CUMBERLAND TALES
Today, the town of Cumberland, British Columbia, is filled with a diverse artistic collection of people enjoying small town quaint lifestyles, but in the 20th century it was bustling with loggers and coal miners. There were separate Chinese, Japanese, and Black communities, and life was not so quaint. Beer parlours were overflowing and bar fights were not uncommon.
This book is a collection of stories, some real, some fiction, all filled with nostalgia of recent (1960's) old days: The Cumberland Tales.
In a cross-generational tale, in small town Gibsons by the Salish Sea, Louis recounts his mother’s Christian kindness to their new neighbour with strange beliefs, and his plan with his siblings to rescue their uncle stuck in purgatory. A family beset by tragedy. One boy’s jump into faith.
In a multi-generational tale, in small town Cumberland nestled beneath the Beaufort Mountains, old wounds re-appear in this rough and tumble coal mining town on Vancouver Island. From the old Tong, Ming, and Qing dynasties of China, these old wounds are unknown to the white society as many Chinese sought to escape the perils of their chaotic homelands. But four boys love the Chinatown, because the pull of the smells, sounds, and sights of the old town prove to be too strong a pull that Sy, Al, Percy, and Jack cannot remain too far from, for too long. Let the adventure begin.