A Secret Gift

During the depths of the Great Depression, an anonymous donor signing himself "B. Virdot" placed a notice in a Canton, Ohio newspaper offering small checks of $5 to 150 families facing destitution. Decades later, author Ted Gup discovered a trove of letters and learned that the mysterious benefactor was his own grandfather. This moving work of narrative history traces the lives of those who received the checks, revealing stories of quiet dignity, resilience, and profound compassion amid economic devastation.