Books available

Dorothy’s Stormy Lake Part III continues with the journal of Dorothy Graham Brown from 1940 through 1945. In detailed letters to her family and friends she describes her daily life at Walkers Landing, an isolated ranch on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia.  It was a life without electricity and often without running water, in a place where the main transportation was by boat. It was also an area of incredible natural beauty and those who were resourceful and persevered could survive off the land while maintaining a sense of individual freedom. Dorothy tells about the very diverse group of people from all walks of life that made Kootenay Lake their home. The area was still experiencing very hard economic times created by the depression, but World War II was contributing to changes. The younger people left to join the military or work in the new defense projects.  A Japanese relocation camp was established in Kaslo.  New roads were built and old mines reopened. Life continued on with tragic deaths and joyful births. When Dorothy found time she enjoyed using her creative talents to make a variety of craftwork. 

First two books in series

Born in England in 1898, Dorothy Douglas immigrated to the United States in her early teens, graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of California at Berkeley.  She then studied art in Belgium, taught school in the Philippine Islands, and traveled throughout the world.  After receiving her master's degree, Dorothy spent the next several years as a social worker in the San Francisco area.  It was there she met Bobby Graham Brown who had immigrated to Canada from England in the 1920s.  Dorothy married Bobby in San Francisco in 1930 after a long courtship and moved to Kootenay Lake in British Columbia where Bobby had purchased property.  Dorothy's city life had ill-prepared her for the rigors of rural life in a sparsely populated has-been mining region where they depended on a small creek for electricity and water.  Their only means of transport was a small boat on a very large and stormy lake.  Dorothy's deep love for her husband, her positive attitude, and her eagerness to learn made up for her lack of domestic experience.  She welcomed the challenges of their new life with enthusiasm and quick wit. In detailed letters, Dorothy told of learning to cook, mend and attend to the dozens of daily chores necessary in order to survive.  She described the unique and sometimes eccentric people who lived around the lake, and she revealed the occasional loneliness she accepted as part of life in an isolated area. Dorothy saved a copy of each letter she wrote and these copies comprise her colorful, insightful and personal record of life in the backwoods.

Joan Wooliver Joan Wooliver, Dorothy's older daughter was born in British Columbia in 1930.  During her early years she was home-schooled but her parents wanted her to have a more formal education so sent her to high school and university in Washington State.  Upon completion of her education, she moved to Alaska where she met George Wooliver.  They were married in 1956 and built a home in a largely undeveloped area outside of Anchorage, Alaska.  With a wood stove, hauling water in five-gallon cans from town and three children in diapers, Joan relied on the frontier spirit she had absorbed while growing up. In 1964 Joan and George added running water and central heating.  They still live in the home they carved out of the woods.  Recently retired from her home-based craft business, Joan currently spends much of her time volunteering throughout the community and playing with her grandchildren.

Brenda G. Dau Brenda Dau, the younger of Dorothy’s two daughters, was born in 1940 at the start of this journal.  She attended school in Ainsworth and Crawford Bay, then went on to earn a college degree from the University of Idaho where she met her husband Gary Dau. The couple kept Brenda’s ties with Kootenay Lake by purchasing a lake lot at Gray creek where they and their two boys enjoyed many vacations.  Now third generation Fritz Dau has built a new cabin at Gray Creek and is enjoying sailing along with other recreational activities. The fourth generation is also finding out the fun of visiting their grandmother Brenda and uncle Fritz at their great grandmother’s stormy lake