Moving Across the World

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"I immigrated to Canada. Like a lot of Brits go to Canada, and a lot come to America. That’s exactly what I did. I left in ’54. Went to Toronto. You know, that was a pleasant experience. I got a job with the Canadian Pacific Railroad as a stenographer. ‘Course I didn’t particularly like that. My hopes of becoming a reporter had gone down the tubes. But, you know, I saved my money and had about a thousand dollars when I decided to come with a friend—I didn’t do this by myself, I was with a friend—we came to America. We had met this New Zealand guy. And, and he worked in the Canadian Pacific. A lot of Australians and New Zealanders, they must feel this pang or pull from England because that’s where so many of them came from originally. They want to go back. And so they undertake these around the world tours lasting two, or three, or four years. And this guy had reached Toronto, Canada and worked for the Canadian Pacific. And he was always talking about San Francisco. I’d see him in the local library reading books on San Francisco. And he was always on about this great city of San Francisco. So it fired up me about coming to America. And we went to San Francisco. I don’t know if I would’ve done it if I hadn’t met this New Zealand guy."