When Grampa was a Mountie is the third book based on Charlie Scheideman's 27 years of police work in the Interior of BC. The first two - Policing the Fringe and Tragedy on Jackass Mountain - ranked high on the BC bestsellers lists for several months after their release. This book is again a collection of short stories - some are funny, some gruesome and some just tell things the way they were. Some accounts reveal the physical and mental hardships a few RCMP members have suffered for their dedication to duty and their willingness to serve in spite of the obvious danger. Scheideman's goal in all three books has been to portray to later generations small-town police life as closely as possible to the way things really were.
The longest story, Fred Quilt Frame-Up, is about two RCMP constables at Alexis Creek who were falsely accused of beating a First Nations elder to death. The conspiracy to discredit these policemen and the RCMP held tight for years - until the key witness's deathbed confession. The original accusations became front page stories internationally; Scheideman's account sets out the facts that have not been public knowledge up to now.
CHARLES SCHEIDEMAN was born and grew up on a farm near Stony Plain, Alberta; he joined the RCMP when he was 21. After training in Ottawa, he served in seven BC communities until his retirement in 1989. He then worked another eight years for the provincial government in Victoria, where he still lives with his wife, Patricia. They have three children and five grandchildren - to whom this book is dedicated by their proud Grampa.
