Whitefish author pens novel based on growing up in Jewish community

Local Whitefish author Linda Hunt recently released her debut historical fiction novel which is based on her life growing up in an almost solely Jewish community. 

The coming-of-age tale is set in University City, Missouri, in the '50s and '60s, and explores the cultural changes that occurred during the time. 

Hunt said the book’s name, “Particular Place and People,” is “really the definition of culture.” 

“What I want people to understand from this book is how a place changes when different cultures occupy the land over time,” she said. 

In addition to this new release, Hunt has published around 20 research articles in professional journals and a non-fiction book, “Work and the Older Person, Increasing Longevity and Well-being,” a collection of research from her time in occupational therapy. 

Hunt has her undergraduate degree in English literature, a master's in health care services, and a doctorate in physiological optics, and briefly explored a career in land management. But she has always felt that writing was her true calling. 

“My mother gave me this gorgeous 1940s edition of ‘Little Women,’” Hunt recalled. “Reading it really inspired me to be a writer because my favorite character was Jo and Jo was a writer. She was also very independent and the feisty one and I'm the feisty one in this book.”

Hunt said that hefty research was required to revisit the years of her youth, and she spent much of her time interviewing key sources and looking through old newspapers, photos and police records.

“I was going through all these old newspapers and I found a picture of the mansion that was right across the street from where I grew up,” said Hunt. “I started going there when I was 4 years old because I became friends with the people that lived there. One day I came home from school and it had been torn down. The newspaper article talked about how it was sold and that it was going to become a school for the Seventh Day Adventists. I burst into tears seeing that picture of the mansion. It was so emotional.”

In 1917, Hunt’s father immigrated to the United States from Lithuania, fleeing Russian oppression. After moving to Saint Louis and meeting Hunt’s mother, Hunt’s parents were among the first to buy a home in the newly developed subdivision, the Gates of Opportunity. 

The family moved into the Saint Louis suburb when Hunt was 3 years old in 1954, the year which marks the beginning of the book.

“University City is really unique. It was started by a very wealthy businessman and entrepreneur who owned a newspaper. He built this city. He built a huge lake called Lewis Park and he built mansions around the park and a gate into the city with iron lions. He started all of it,” said Hunt.

“This whole community, we were all Jewish. My mother would say in some communities, you have a tavern on every corner. In University City, you have a synagogue on every corner. You never felt self-conscious when you walked into a room because everybody knew you were Jewish and most likely they were Jewish too. There were kids that were not Jewish, of course, but we were all friends and got along really well,” said Hunt.

The book’s primary adversary, Hunt said, is herself. While she said she never rebelled against her religion, she did question societal and cultural norms. 

“Each chapter has me rebelling in some way like being the first vegetarian in our community and in junior high school I was the one that was sent home because my skirts were too short. I got into trouble a lot,” she said with a laugh.

The book’s other source of conflict, Hunt said, stems from the slow changing of the landscape and culture and how it warred against the small, almost utopian community over time.

“Where we grew up, we played till it was dark outside. We'd be chasing lightning bugs and playing hide and go seek. I'd walk home from a friend's house in the dark and it was very safe,” Hunt said. “But crime increased and people moved away because they were afraid. We had to move because it just wasn’t safe anymore.” 

While Hunt hopes the book reaches a global audience, she said that as a long-time Whitefish resident, she hopes others in her community can benefit from the experience that her story shares.

“People are moving to live here part-time, but not really making this their forever home. I know people who have lived here for a long time grieve all the development and I grieve every tree that is torn down,” said Hunt. “There is a change in the land here.” 

“Particular Place and People” is available at Target, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.