Jess Walters speaks at the foundation building on Sept. 21.
"The Cold Millions" was published in 2020. Walters based the book on his hometown of Spokane from the turn of the century.
A well-known author spoke to Seeley Lake residents last week about his latest historical fiction, his writing style, and the fun tidbits about his hometown of Spokane, Washington.
Jess Walters has lived in Spokane for most of his life while becoming an award-winning novelist. He has 10 books and several published short stories. In 2006, he won the Edgar Allen Poe award for his best Novel "Citizen Vince."
He also made the 2012 New York Times best 100 books with his novel "Beautiful Ruins." But in 2020, he published the book closest to home "The Cold Millions" a historical fiction based in 1910s Spokane during the heart of industrial expansion and the labor movement.
Walters started as a journalist at the Spokesman-Review. Part of his inspiration from the book came from looking through old newspaper archives about freedom of speech and union protests from the turn of the century.
"Think of Spokane in 1909, all the railroads that are coming through are picking up the copper, they are picking up the lumber, they are transporting the farm goods from the Palouse, almost everything verges into Spokane," Walters said. "As all of this incredible mining wealth, Silver in Coeur D'Alene and Copper in Montana, so much of that wealth is flowing like a drain into Spokane."
Walters said with the intake, the city of Spokane doubled in size every seven years during the period. The opportune place also brought some of the most rich and the most poor into the same town.
The story centers around two brothers trying to make it in the city. Sixteen-year-old Rye hopes to secure a steady job, while brother Gig wants to make a better life through unionizing protests with notable historical figures like Elizabeth Gurly Flynn.
Much of the book centers on the union labor movement, which captivated western towns with large wealth disparities. Flynn and unionizer Frank Little went to Spokane, Missoula and Butte to organize workers. Little was mysteriously murdered in Butte less than a decade later.
Walters wanted to tie these real historical figures with fictional characters that can still give an accurate portrayal to history. He cited the old wealth gaps in Spokane, something he never learned in school, as motivation for writing the story.
"You end up with 26 job agencies on Stevens Street in Spokane where those men can be hired," Walters said. "Ten blocks away you have millionaires, multimillionaires, having entire mansions shipped from Chicago and rebuilt on the Spokane River."
While workers in 1910 focused on reducing the work week from seven days to six and creating ways for workers to have affordable medical care, Walters compared the 1910s to 2023 because of similar wealth inequality.
"We have the exact same gap between the wealthy and the poor of 1909," Walters said.
He added how much wealth plays into other factors of life, like homelessness and mental health. With less money going to poorer families, Walters said, more people are ending up on the streets with no social safety net. He also tied the issue with the rise and fall of union membership.
Walters ended the talk with questions on his writing process and talking about recent union developments like the Writers Guild Strikes across the country.
Walters also wrote the book on Ruby Ridge, originally titled "Every Knee Shall Bow," in 1995. The book was released under the title Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Weaver Family.
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