Dear Canada: A step back in time

Susan Aihoshi

Susan Aihoshi is a third-generation Japanese Canadian whose grandparents and parents were interned in the ghost town of New Denver in 1942. Her mother and several of Susan’s aunts were volunteer teachers, while her father and her uncle repaired derelict buildings in Sandon before moving to New Denver. Susan’s parents met in New Denver, then later came to Toronto, where they married.

On writing Torn Apart, Susan said, “It was not until this present opportunity arose to write the Dear Canada Japanese Internment story that I have at last been able to achieve one of my lifelong goals — to write a book. It has also been a very gratifying way to explore my own family members’ history as Japanese Canadians who lived through a major injustice and went on to thrive in spite of it.”

After many years at Books in Canada magazine, Susan became managing editor at Madison Press Books, where as she worked on a wide variety of children’s books.  She is currently a freelance editor and writer.