Some friends were kind enough to share a few books they have been reading and while this is not the time of year that I do most of my reading I did take some time to review a few.
Books written by locals usually bring up a number of discussions from my coffee buddies as we recall many topics that relate to our experiences.
Most of my flying experiences in B.C. were with helicopters, but we did use Beech Craft Queen Air planes during our time in Colombia.
Once I started reading Bush Pilot by Clarence Moore it was hard to put it down as he described his many flights to areas that I was familiar with.
While I did not understand all of the technical terms as the author seats you in the cockpits of the many machines he has piloted, I did enjoy his stories and photos.
After a stint in the navy, he describes his first solo flight in 1953 followed by flying for a number of local companies along with getting some of his own planes, mostly Cessnas on floats.
I have not read Moore’s first book Chilcotin Cowboys in Airplanes, but I am sure it would have also brought back many memories of my time with the range section of the Ministry of Forests.
If you have not had the opportunity to fly in a small plane in the rugged landscapes of this province, I suggest you read Moore’s books.
His parting advice may not make too many faint of heart ready to try a small plane. “Keep your butt attached and the aircraft in one piece, no need looking for trouble, it will find you be ready.”
The second book on loan from Pat Teti is The Age of Wood by Roland Ennos who is a professor of biology at the University of Hull. It is not a surprise that this book would be in Pat’s library for those who have seen some of his remarkable woodworking projects.
Professor Ennos starts with our ancestors’ early uses of wood and how humans were able to develop civilizations and produce global economies.
He examines the use of wood in many fields including primatology, anthropology, archaeology, history, architecture, engineering and carpentry along with detailed notes and references.
While some early sailing ships were impressive (240 feet long) and some halls and railroad trestles involved many tons of wood the author describes the importance of wood for early manufacture of metals (wrought iron) and later coal replacing wood for the production of steel and concrete for most large scale structures.
No discussions about the importance of wood would be complete without the impact of humans on the global forests.
The last book on my list is by A.B. Robinson, Witch Hunt in the B.C. Woods. Tony is a retired B.C. government forest administrator who worked in a number of locations including Williams Lake.
I think he does a pretty good job in the first two-thirds of his book describing the history of the forest management bureaucracy of British Columbia and the last part he gives his perspective on the politicians and environmentalists during his days in government.
While I don’t agree with some of his opinions on clearcutting, I think he provides an interesting summary of Swedish harvesting practices and alternate options for forest ownership.
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