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Register of the Snook (James) Reminiscences, 1916-1987
Mss283
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Table of contents
Title: Snook (James) Reminiscences,
Date (inclusive): 1916-1987
Collection number: Mss283
Creator:
Extent: 1 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Snook (James) Reminiscences, Mss283, Holt-Atherton Department
of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
James Snook spent most of his life in Stockton and San Joaquin County (1916-1987).
Snook's father, a biologist, taught at Stockton High School. Snook's memoirs describe his
boyhood with trenchant wit and in great detail (1916-1930). He also describes family
summers spent in La Jolla, where his father carried out marine biological research
(1916-1923), and, at Silver Lake, where the father was camp naturalist at Stockton's
Municipal Camp (1924-1930). Later, Snook attended the University of California (1930-31)
and the College of the Pacific (1931-32) until financial pressures forced him to leave
school.
After working at various jobs in Stockton, Snook joined the Army (1942) and spent much of
the War in Italy (1944-46). Following his wartime service, Snook returned to Stockton
where he sold farm properties (1946-48) before finding a job with the gas department at
Pacific Gas and Electric.
James Snook's writings describe his adult life in great detail. Snook devotes over 250
pages to his wartime experiences alone, while his miscellaneous vignettes, anecdotes and
stories about life in northern California (1916-1986) occupy more than 300 pages. Snook
began these four binders of writings in about 1989 and worked on them until 1994.