Snook, James R.

James O. Snook spent most of his adult life in Stockton and San Joaquin County, Calif. (1916-1994). Snook's father, a biologist, taught at Stockton High School. Snook's memoir describes his Stockton boyhood with trenchant wit and in great detail (1916-1930). He also describes family summers in La Jolla, Calif. where his father carried out research in marine biology (1916-23), and, at Stockton's Municipal Camp at Silver Lake, where the father was camp naturalist (1924-30). Later, Snook attended the University of California (1930-32) and the College of the Pacific (1932-33). His memoir details his college life as well as his varied efforts to establish himself during the Depression while working at various jobs in Stockton. Snook devotes over 250 pages to his Army experiences (1942-46), notably in Italy (1944-1946). He also reminisces at length about his work as a gas leak detector for PG & E in Stockton (1948-77) and about an extended family vacation in the Western United States (1929). The remainder of Snook's memoir describes his efforts to find satisfactory employment and raise his family in Stockton in the years following the War (1946-86).