Biography & Autobiography Adventurers & Explorers
Prairie Pilot
Lady Luck was on My Side: The Stories of Walter D. Williams
- Publisher
- DriverWorks Ink
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2008
- Category
- Adventurers & Explorers
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9780987964397
- Publish Date
- Sep 2008
- List Price
- $13.31
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780981039428
- Publish Date
- Sep 2008
- List Price
- $21.95
Add it to your shelf
Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 12 to 18
- Grade: 7 to 12
Description
This collection of 100 true short stories was written by the late Walter Williams, a ‘character’ and International Harvester dealer in Kerrobert, SK, about his flying adventures in the 1950s. Walter wrote about some of his most helpful and humourous experiences flying his two-seater airplane to transport pregnant women, injured children, police officers, teachers, corpses, criminals and thrill-seekers to more than 75 communities in west central Saskatchewan and beyond, often ignoring bad weather and common sense to help others.
About the authors
Contributor Notes
Deana Driver (dee-na) is a Saskatchewan freelance journalist, author, editor and publisher. She compiled and published Prairie Pilot: Lady Luck was on My Side at the request of Walter Williams’ family, to commemorate that era in Saskatchewan history and to honour the risks that Walter took to help others. For more than 25 years, Deana Driver has chronicled the stories of fascinating Prairie people through magazine articles and books. She is the author and co-publisher of the award-winning, best-selling biography Never Give Up: Ted Jaleta’s Inspiring Story.
Excerpt: Prairie Pilot: Lady Luck was on My Side: The Stories of Walter D. Williams (edited by Deana Driver; contributions by Deana J. Driver)
Alsask – Injured Boy
One winter day, I was phoned by a mother at Alsask to fly her and her eight-year-old boy to Kindersley Hospital. She said that it was urgent. The weather was fine, so I assured her that I would be there as soon as I could warm up the engine and get going. She and the boy should be ready to be picked up at a certain field on high ground, a short distance south of
Alsask.
Alsask was not easy country, even on skis, due to hills, fences and what-not. I had used this field before, not too large and fenced, but the best available in that area. When I arrived, I was pleased that the mother was a smallish person and she
had her son with her, with his face and head all wrapped up. Apparently the boy had been frolicking with their dog. A storm window had been left leaning against the house and while playing with the dog, the boy had fallen into the window, face-first. The result was a very seriously cut-up face, but the mother thought the eyes had escaped injury.
Takeoff successful, we streaked for Kindersley. That winter there had been a lot of snow and storms, and while at that
time there was a fairly large field to land in, there was a giant snowbank right outside the rear door of the hospital. Not
wishing myself to carry the boy a long way under existing conditions, and realizing that this little woman could have a
difficult time, too, I managed to taxi EVO right to the top of this big rounded snowbank and shut ’er off right there, before
falling in against the hospital. We were then at the level of the second floor of Kindersley Hospital. I took the boy and told
the lady to dig her heels in real good, and we descended to ground level, just a few feet from the Emergency entrance......
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