Canadian students should learn about Canadian heroes
On July 1, 2015, Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey whose courageous stand against thalidomide spared untold thousands of children from being born with life-altering deformities, and made her a household name, was belatedly named to the Order of Canada. Certainly the timing (more than half a century after the fact!) couldn’t have been any tighter as, just five weeks later, Dr. Kelsey passed away, aged 101. Of all the laudatory press coverage of both the award and Dr. Kelsey’s death, that which most resonated with me was by editor Andrea Rondeau in the Cowichan Valley Citizen. In an editorial upon Dr. Kelsey’s recognition by the Canadian government, she wrote, “Kelsey is someone who is more than deserving. Every Canadian should know her story.” Which is precisely the point—not just in the case of Dr. Kelsey but of...
Read MoreJack Hardcastle Painted Sailing, Steam Ships
As a boy, Jack Hardcastle and his chums had played in the shipyards, scampering up the masts of sailing ships under construction or undergoing repairs… My own acquaintance with the late Jack Hardcastle is tenuous. Having collected Canadian naval memorabilia since my father handed me his kit upon his retirement as a chief petty officer in the Royal Canadian Navy, when I was eight or nine years old, I later came upon a curious type of artwork that fitted my growing collection. Perhaps you’ve seen them in antique stores: Small (about six inches across) replicas of life buoys that encircle a colourful oil painting of a ship. Most common are those depicting the CPR’s famous ‘Princess’ ships and, to a lesser extent, Canadian naval ships. Ultimately I acquired a dozen of these brightly-hued wall-hangers and I’ve seen at least...
Read MoreHumble Copy Boy Met All Kinds
I met all kinds in The Daily Colonist’’s editorial office—even in my humble role of copy boy. Here, in the cluttered arena of editors and reporters, amidst the blue of cigarette smoke and the chatter of typewriter and teletype (I’m writing of the 1960s), the great and not-so-great, the famous and infamous, the forgotten, came to call. Some came by request, others came seeking publicity, from athletic club secretary with the latest scores, to the man with the squirming canvas bag who, upon being asked what it contained, bluntly replied: “Rattlesnakes.” He wasn’t kidding! There was the handsome old gentleman in army greatcoat, shopping bag in hand, who’d drop by to chat with a reporter friend, a cup of coffee, then be on his way. And so it went, every few months, for a year or so until he...
Read MoreStunt flying claimed veteran pilot Arthur Raybone
The tragic death, 91 years ago, of former RAF pilot Arthur Raybone was one of Victoria’s first flying fatalities. “Before going up the two arranged with each other to alternate at the [dual] controls and that Benny should land the plane.”–Eyewitness. If ever there was a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing, with lethal effect, it’s the sad tale of one of Victoria’s first air crashes. It was back in November 1928, when Victoria’s pioneer airfield was Lansdowne, then a natural plain, today a densely developed suburb. The aircraft in question was an Alexander Eaglerock, based out of Tacoma, and in town on a social call. Which is where things went so badly wrong. Her regular pilot was 30-year-old Arthur Raybone, his co-pilot that day, Valdemar Bendrodt, also 30, and well known...
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