"Fruit Tramps" by Bertha Walsh...

We have an author in the family. Bertha Walsh was married to my mother's cousin Earl Walsh. So she's connected by marriage. Here's how-

  • My mother is a Ross.
  • Her mother was born a Walsh and has a bunch of cousins.
  • One of those cousins is Earl Walsh. 

Earl was a veteran of WW-II and the Korean War serving in what is now the US Air Force. After the war he and his brother had a trucking business. Earl drove a truck making deliveries in the Central Valley of California.

Earl met Bertha Walling Williams in Angels Camp where she owned and operated Williams Auto Parts in Angels Camp, California after her husband died. Earl and Bertha married and were together 47 years till Bertha's decease in 2015. Bertha was a child of the great depression growing up in the Central Valley of California. In 2007 Bertha published her story of that time titled Fruit Tramps. Her story is likely similar to that of many hundreds of thousands of others in the Central Valley at that time- following the harvest from south to north to pick fruit.

I met Bertha a few times at family functions. I thought she was remarkable and tough. Just like everyone that survived that time in California. It wasn't a time for wimps!

The link above is to her book on Amazon.

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