Revisiting Johnsons Landing tragedy
June 24th, 2015
Gar Creek if filled with trees after disaster. Renata Klassen photo.
July 12 marks the third anniversary of the landslides in tiny Johnsons Landing, B.C. that killed four people and resulted in the loss of several homes, including that of Amanda Bath. This month Bath is giving several presentations based on her book about the event and its consequences.
Disaster in Paradise is grounded in Amanda’s intimate knowledge of Johnsons Landing and contains thirty-five interviews of other residents, as well as volunteers in the rescue and recovery missions.
Tue, June 30, 2015: Disaster in Paradise presentation and book signing in New Denver – Knox Hall (521 6th Avenue, New Denver)
Thu, June 25, 2015: Disaster in Paradise presentation and book signing in Creston – Black Bear Books & Coffee House (1229B Canyon Street, Creston)
Wed, June 24, 2015: Disaster in Paradise presentation and book signing in Cranbrook – Lotus Books (33 10th Ave. S., Cranbrook)
Mandy Bath and Christopher Klassen revisit the site of their home at Johnsons Landing. Margaret Smith photo.
When Mandy Bath left her home on July 12, 2012, she had no idea that only an hour later, her house and community would be destroyed. A massive landslide caused by snow melt and heavy rains hit the tiny hamlet of Johnsons Landing [no apostrophe is correct] mid-morning that day, killing four people and decimating the tight-knit lakeside community. Disaster in Paradise: The Landslides in Johnsons Landing (Harbour $22.95), tells a story of “survival, grief and recovery” as residents try to heal and eventually rebuild. Bath came to live in Johnsons Landing, the site of a former steamboat landing, in 1993. Since her home was destroyed in 2012, she lives in Kaslo, B.C., with her husband Christopher Klassen.
Born in London, England in 1955, Amanada (Mandy) Bath immigrated to Canada in 1995. She has a B.A. in Hispanic and Latin American Studies from the University of Bristol, England (1981) and a Ph.D. in Catalan Literature, University of Bristol, England (1984). Her Ph.D. thesis was translated into Catalan and published as: Pere Calders: Ideari i Ficció (Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1987). Her translations from Catalan of Pere Calders’ short stories were published as The Virgin of the Railway and Other Stories (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1991). Her first book published in Canada is Disaster in Paradise: The Landslides in Johnsons Landing. Bath worked in human rights research for Amnesty International for a decade. 978-1-55017-695-7
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