Thank you to Calgary PWAC member, Anne Gafiuk, for sharing her Book Launch experience ...
In March of 2012, I drove south from Calgary to High River’s
Museum of the Highwood to pick up a DVD with scanned photos related to the
subject of my book, having met and talked with the director, Pat, a few weeks
earlier to select photos from the museum’s archives.
Knowing pictures are not cheap, from my experience with the cost
of one photo from the War Museum of Canada, when I was handed the bill, I did a
double-double take.....yikes, I thought...but I need them. I could see Pat was also concerned about my
reaction. I handed over my VISA card and
paid the invoice.
As I continued putting together Wings Over
High River
“A book launch?”
“Sure....we can host it here.”
I was not expecting this at all.
Pleased, surprised and a bit in shock, I replied, “We need to talk to
the fellows in Nanton, too....as they are the publishers.”
Another meeting occurred with Pat, and Dave, one of the
directors from the Bomber
Command Museum
Local papers in the area picked up the story: Nanton, High River Calgary
The day of the book launch arrived.....but an interview was
scheduled beforehand at Gordon’s home.
Gordon was in fine form and the question and answer period went
well....back to the museum and all was set up:
my family assisted Pat and her fellow staff members with the cheese,
crackers and little cakes while I was at the interview; Dave brought the
sparkling apple juice; coffee and tea, cups and plates, napkins laid
out.......people started to gather in the open spaces.....Gordon and his wife
arrived....more people...and more people....the museum was filling up. Then it was time for the programme.
Pat was the emcee. She
rang a loud school bell to grab everyone’s attention....and the event
opened. Pat spoke briefly, then invited
Gordon’s daughter to give a brief history of the family in the
area....next: the President of the Bomber Command
Museum
Pat set up a table with books and pens. (“I made sure they work, Anne,” she assured
me.) And people lined up for their
copy. (“A best seller at the museum,” I
was told.) Before we knew it, people
were starting to head home, the museum quieted down.....then Gordon and I were
asked for another interview with a reporter of the CBC Calgary Late Night
News....
What a day December 1, 2012 was for me....and Gordon, too. I had concerns the book launch might be
anti-climactic....that the researching and the writing of the book would be
more exciting. Was it just like what
people say about a wedding...months and months of preparation, planning....for
one day...then it’s done? Months and
months of research....interviews...travels...meeting new people...is this where
the high comes from?
One person I met through the research of Wings Over High River posed to me, “What’s next, Anne?” I’ve got a few ideas.....most of them
connected to the BCATP....that acronym I had no idea existed nor what it
meant....and had to practice saying....the British Commonwealth Air Training
Plan....and the many men who joined the RCAF...and died for their country.
Two days after the book launch, I went to the post office to
mail six copies of Wings Over High River....they
were travelling, so to speak, across the country: to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Saanichton,
British Columbia and points in-between.
Since CBC’s The National covered the story in early January 2013, more
book orders have been pouring in, including one from the US
The book has taken on a life of its own.
“It’s grown amazing legs”, says Colleen Biondi, another PWAC
member.
Yes, that it has!
WINGS OVER HIGH RIVER - Conversations with
A. Gordon Jones
by Anne Gafiuk
by Anne Gafiuk
