“Whispering” Duke Schiller – The Forgotten Hero of Early Aviation
Duke Schiller performed more acts of courage in his brief flying career than many of the famous aviators of the 20th century. Yet his name is largely unknown today. Tom Douglas, recipient of the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation for his books focusing on Canada’s military heritage, hopes to correct that oversight with his latest release, “Whispering” Duke Schiller – The Forgotten Hero of Early Aviation.
Duke, whose bellowing voice caused his fellow bush pilots to nickname him Whispering, was killed in 1943 while flying with the RAF Ferry Command. During the First World War, Duke had been an instructor with the Royal Flying Corps Canada, training cadets in Ontario and Texas.
Between world wars, Duke’s exploits included locating fellow aviators lost in Canada’s northland and rescuing the three-man crew of the Bremen. The German aircraft had crashed-landed off Labrador upon completion of the first successful non-stop Atlantic crossing from east to west. Duke’s headline-grabbing exploits also saw him rescue a blind man from a burning house while heading to an airport in Newfoundland where his own trans-Atlantic attempt was called off after the deaths of several other pilots. He was also credited with saving the life of a near-death Bahamian woman by flying a doctor, nurse and medical supplies to an Out Island in record time. Order copies of the book at tagonapress.com.
Tom Douglas’s other books include D-Day – Canadian Heroes of the Famous World War II Invasion, Canadian Spies, Great Canadian War Heroes, and Valour At Vimy Ridge. As a freelancer with Fifty-Five Plus Magazine, he wrote cover stories on several Canadian luminaries, including former Governor-General David Johnston and retired senator General Romeo Dallaire.
Johnny Delivers
Reviewed by Iris Winston
A novel that presents an interesting view of Chinese social history, Johnny Delivers is grounded in author Wayne Ng’s experiences as the child of first-generation immigrants from China.
Readers were introduced to Johnny Wong, then 11 years old, in Ng’s award-winning novella Letters from Johnny. In Johnny Delivers, he is seven years older, on the verge of adulthood with all the insecurities about the future that many young people face.
For Johnny, the future looks much like the present as he continues to work in his family’s restaurant and handle food deliveries. Then hope comes when he meets an old friend, who has plans for an illegal money-making venture. Johnny sees it as a way to save his family from ruin and to escape his dead-end destiny.
In recounting the next episode in Johnny’s life, Ng emphasizes the importance of family and parenting style in Chinese culture, while weaving comments about racial prejudice into the narrative. Eventually, Auntie, the villain of the piece (not Johnny’s “for-real aunt”) is overcome through an intense game of mahjong and Johnny can move on to a more positive future.
It is hard to accept positive motivation as an excuse for drug-dealing criminal activity. It is equally difficult for a person from a different cultural background to believe that mahjong could result in the happy conclusion of Johnny Delivers. However, Ng’s chatty writing style and his focus on Johnny’s determination to help his family do build some sympathy for him along the way. Order copies of Johnny Delivers at waynengwrites.com.
The Burden of Guilt
By Richard Bercuson and E.W. Zrudio, The Burden of Guilt is a novel available on Amazon, Kindle and Kobo. The back cover describes it this way:
“A Nazi war criminal extradited to France from Canada. A soldier’s war memorabilia, including a rambling diary, photos, and a loose page torn from a German ledger book. A 1944 prison escape involving leaders of the French Resistance. A country terrified to learn the truth about collaboration during the war and what happened to its legendary hero.
David Benson prepares to go to Paris to take on his first professional hockey coaching job. He carries with him the still vivid memories of his father who was killed in a traffic accident in France just weeks before.
However, even before leaving, he is confronted with new information about his father’s death and the role he played while gathering evidence against the Nazi. As France wrestles with a looming war crimes trial, he seeks answers about his father’s mysterious death, who might have been responsible and why. This leads him to connect with people whose pasts are inexorably linked to the present and which put him and a young woman in harm’s way.
