On Easter weekend in 1936, three men went down into an old rundown gold mine at Moose River in a remote area of Nova Scotia. While below, they became trapped by a massive cave-in at the 141-foot level. One man was a pediatrician, the second a young lawyer, and the third the mining company timekeeper. They had entered the mine to assess its potential for possible sale to an unnamed United States interest.

With the heroic efforts of more than 150 men and women volunteers, including local miners, hard rock miners from Ontario, draegermen from Pictou County, and a tenacious young diamond drill operator from Pictou County, two of the men were recovered alive. The third man died underground on the eighth day of their entombment.

Halifax broadcaster J. Frank Willis made history with his live reports from the mine head that were broadcast on more than 700 radio stations around the world, including the major U.S. networks and the BBC. It marked the beginning of a new era in broadcasting and in journalism. Until then, radio was known chiefly as a music and entertainment medium; news gathering and reporting had been the bailiwick of newspapers and newswire services.

Little did Willis know when he filed his first report from the site that he was making broadcast history by pioneering live on-the-spot reporting. It would change the face of broadcasting forever. Rescue at Moose River is the story of how these two events, one tragic, one historic, came together in the backwoods of Nova Scotia more than 80 years ago.

Blain Henshaw has been a writer since publishing his own penny newspaper in Grade Three at age nine. His professional writing career began at CKBW radio in Bridgewater in 1966 where he wrote news and covered courts, municipal council, and community events. In the 1970s and 80s while working for the Atlantic Television System (now CTV Atlantic) he won a number of radio and television awards for his documentary work, including an Atlantic Journalism award. His first book was published in 2016 and since then there have been three more, including the 2021 regional bestseller Madam of the Maritimes: The Life and Times of Ada MacCallum. He is also a prolific songwriter, having composed more that 100 songs and recording four CDs of original material. In 2017 he was inducted into the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame.

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