Imagine for a moment working hard, paying bills promptly, and putting money regularly into the savings bank. Then suddenly you lost your job. There was no unemployment insurance. You go to the bank and find it closed with all your savings gone. You try to sell your belongings. Sometimes this will feed the family for a while. Once your furniture is gone, and your house repossessed, and you are living as a whole family without heat or a bed in a room somewhere. Five dollars sometimes gave people enough hope to save them from suicide. Sometimes it meant an orange and a pair of shoes.
Ted Gup found descendants of the people his grand father had helped. He even found one still living who could remember the help. He followed up every one of his grandfather's checks, a tremendous task in itself.
But equally important he learned that his generous life affirming grandfather was an illegal alien who loved his adopted country with fear and passion.
This is the story of a man with secrets and who despite his own fears and worries chose to help others during desperate times. I really enjoyed the small individual stories of the people Sam Stone helped during the Great Depression, but I appreciated more getting the chance to see the real effect that this period of time had on individuals.
A very moving look into the very personal stories of the depression and how one man's generosity helped and gave a ray of hope to so many.
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