The latest book I've published has led to numerous "firsts" during my 24 years as an author, editor, and independent Canadian book publisher. Here is a snapshot of what happened during an exciting two weeks launching Flying a Gooney Bird in Canada's North: A Bush Pilot's Adventures with the book's subject and author, Dorrin Wallace.
This is the first time I've co-authored an entire book, although I've written five nonfiction books as the sole author and contributed pieces to more than a dozen other Canadian books. So that's been fun!
Dorrin's anecdotes about his 40 years as a bush pilot taught me a lot about what it takes to safely fly airplanes through inclement weather, landing on windy or frozen lakes or small airfields while avoiding trees, rocks, and the occasional animal that crosses the runway while the plane is landing! I've published four other books about aviation adventures (Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation, Volumes 1 to 3, plus Crash Harrison: Tales of a Bomber Pilot Who Defied Death), but this detailed look at being a pilot and aircraft maintenance engineer has given me a first-person look at being a solo pilot.
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| Evan Bray with Dorrin Wallace and Deana J Driver Oct. 1, 2025 |
Dorrin and I were invited to talk about our book launch on the Evan Bray Show on CJME/ CKOM radio. I've been interviewed several times on the John Gormley Show, the predecessor to this talk show, but this was my first time as a guest on Evan Bray's show. What fun! Listen to the October 1st audio clip.
To get from his home in Saskatoon to the radio studio in Regina for the interview, Dorrin asked his friend Murray Louden to fly him south to Regina in Murray's Cessna 180. That's the second time an author of mine has come to Regina on an aircraft to promote their book. In November 2023, Romie Christie flew to Regina from Calgary, Alberta, to launch her inspiring book about her parents' war story/love story, See You in Le Touquet: A Memoir of War and Destiny. But this was the first time a small aircraft was "chartered" for a radio show interview promoting one of the books I've published! So cool.
I picked up Dorrin at the Regina airport, and away we went to the CJME studio. After the radio show, we returned to the Regina Flying Club, where we signed boxes of books to send to retailers. That was a first-time experience at that location! Thanks to Murray for arranging the space with the accommodating staff of the Flying Club.
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| Dorrin Wallace with Deana J Driver at the Regina Flying Club |
As Dorrin and Murray prepared to go back to Saskatoon, I asked if I could walk out to the airplane with them, which I did. I took their photos in front of Murray's Cessna, to be used specifically in this blog post. Another first!
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| Murray Louden with his Cessna and author Dorrin Wallace |
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| Dorrin Wallace with the Cessna C-FPXT |
As we walked to the Cessna, Dorrin told me a great story about Murray's Cessna, which Dorrin flew as a bush pilot in northern Saskatchewan!
"When Murray told me he bought C-FPXT, I said, 'I know that plane. The last time I flew it, it was loaded with 1,000 pounds of moose meat." On that trip in 1974, Dorrin was flying from Uranium City to Prince Albert with the aircraft overloaded.
Dorrin smiled as he told me, 'Some guys on the dock wanted to make me a bet that I couldn't get airborne, because of the weight of the moose meat and the full tanks of gas. I told them to save their money, I would get airborne, and I did." But it wasn't an easy task, explained Dorrin. "I climbed for 150 miles to get up to altitude. I should have been at altitude at 10 miles. I was about 700 pounds overloaded for that airplane." Oh, my.
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| Dorrin Wallace, about to board Murray's plane |
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| Flying a Gooney Bird in Canada's North - A Bush Pilot's Adventures by Dorrin Wallace with Deana J Driver published by DriverWorks Ink, DRIVERWORKS.CA |
A few days after the radio interview, my beau, Marlowe, became my chauffeur and assistant for the book launch at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum in Saskatoon, about 270 km northwest of Regina. This was the first time that I had Marlowe's presence and support at a book launch! I am grateful that he took photos and videos of the event so I could focus on the proceedings. I am also grateful to the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild for author reading assistance for this event and to Creative Saskatchewan for book publishing production assistance of Flying a Gooney Bird in Canada's North!
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| The Saskatchewan Aviation Museum and Learning Centre, Saskatoon, SK |
Surprisingly, this was the first time someone took photos (or perhaps the first time someone showed me photos) of me as I was deep in conversation with the author before an event! Thanks, Marlowe, for that reminder of some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into launching a book.
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| Dorrin Wallace with Deana J Driver |
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| Dorrin Wallace with Deana J Driver at the launch of their book Flying a Gooney Bird in Canada's North: A Bush Pilot's Adventures |
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| Thank you to everyone who came to our Saskatchewan Aviation Museum book launch of Flying a Gooney Bird in Canada's North! |
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| Author Dorrin Wallace with book cover photographer Roberta Wells and co-author/publisher Deana J Driver of DriverWorks Ink |
It was nice to meet Roberta Wells, the woman who took the photo of Dorrin and the DC-3 (also known as a Gooney Bird) that we used on the cover of our book, but this was the first time I've been in a photo as a photographer pretended to kiss the book's author just for a laugh! So silly.
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| Book cover photographer Roberta Wells pretends to get fresh with author Dorrin Wallace while co-author/publisher Deana J Driver of DriverWorks Ink just sits back and smiles |
To end this terrific day, Marlowe added more firsts by suggesting that he could take a video (1) of Dorrin and me chatting in front of the DC-3 (2) that is a prized exhibit at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum. Enjoy the video!
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