Making a Difference

This is a book about two people, the author's parents, Jack and Joan Verney, who lived through remarkable times and did some extraordinary things. Born in Britain after the First World War, they were shaped by the Great Depression, the Second World War, and post-war austerity. Among their extraordinary actions: Jack ran away from home at a time when rebellion against parental authority was a rare phenomenon; he and Joan took the chance of getting married on the basis of a few meetings before the Second World War and some correspondence during it, and despite problems, they endured as a couple; and, with three young children, in 1957 they uprooted and moved to Canada, where, in a succession of western Canadian communities and finally in Ottawa, they achieved more of note, Jack through his teaching, writing, and volunteer work, Joan through her own volunteer work and devotion to family. In short, they made a difference.

Apart from being the son of Jack and Joan Verney, the principal subjects of this book, Peter Verney has long had a fascination with the great twentieth-century events that shaped their lives: the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war austerity years in Britain. Retired from the Canadian public service, he has had the leisure-and, it must be added, a wife who affords him sufficient peace and quiet--to indulge his fascination and to research family history.