2 Dec 2002

Book Reviews – A Tradition of Excellence

The following is a selection of book reviews/email messages that have been received by the author over the last month concerning the publication of A Tradition of Excellence – Canada’s Airshow Team Heritage:

• This is not just a splendid book, it is a spectacular one … It can only be described as a labour of love, a fastidiously researched and profusely illustrated account of the history of Canadian air force and navy aerobatic teams over the years …

Dr. James A. Boutilier
Victoria, British Columbia
October 2002

• Fabulous, Dan. Two days of skimming and now I've got to start reading. I can't imagine the time & effort this has taken. The finest aviation book I've seen … Congratulations, many times over.

Bob Hallowell
Comox, British Columbia
25 Oct 2002

• Received my copy & am about halfway through reading it. Let me add to, what I am sure, are the many congratulatory messages on your achievement. It really is a magnificent book. It should be compulsory reading for today’s Air Force so they can appreciate what a tradition they have to live up to & realize what it was like to serve in the heyday … Once again, congratulations on a wonderful achievement.

Bill Gladders
Comox, British Columbia
26 Oct 2002

• What a monster!!! I'm overwhelmed, she's a thing of beauty …

James W. Jones
Ottawa, Ontario
28 Oct 2002

• Received the "package" today. In a word: WOW!!!

Vic Johnson
Ottawa, Ontario
28 Oct 2002

• Congratulations on the launch of what is the best written, most in-depth book of its type anywhere! You should be very proud of your accomplishment, I know we are.

Dale and Patti Hackett
Saint John, New Brunswick
28 Oct 2002

• Dan, I received my copy this afternoon and have been scanning through it for the past two hours. It's going to take a lot of reading … It was well worth the wait. Please accept my congratulations on a superb effort.

Ernie Saunders
Abbotsford, British Columbia
28 Oct 2002

• Great job Dan! I'm going to have to bring it home from work before I get fired. My boss keeps catching me reading it. I can't stop. I'm sure you are glad it's over but it's obvious from the final product that it was a labour of love.

J.R. Roulston
Comox, British Columbia
28 Oct 2002

• Received my new book today, safe and sound. Congratulations, it is a magnificent piece of work - I love it. I can almost smell my cockpit again when looking at all those pictures; and so many that I have never seen before. This is going to give me many happy hours of perusing. It was worth the wait.

Tony Brett
Royston, British Columbia
29 Oct 2002

• Received the book today - truly magnificent!! The CD Rom simply can't do it justice.

F.R. Sutherland
LGen (Ret’d)
Bath, Ontario
30 Oct 2002

• Last night I had a sit-down … to enjoy the book. It is fantastic beyond my wildest dreams. The depth of the material and wonderful story told is something you must truly be commended for. Never I have I seen such a complete work on such a complex subject. You must be so pleased. How you managed to do such a great job while still maintaining your flight schedule is beyond me … Kudos, kudos, kudos on your magnificent work.

David O’Malley
Ottawa, Ontario
1 Nov 2002

• I received my copy of your book in excellent condition. What can I say? You must be feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment. Really well done!

Garth Dingman
Bath, Ontario
3 Nov 2002

• Just wanted to send a note to let you know that I received the book and what a book it is. You have done a fantastic job and should be very proud, it will be something I treasure forever …

Wade Konecsni
Manotick, Ontario
4 Nov 2002

• Received my copy a couple of hours ago and haven't been able to put it down. It is superb. Even with the rave pre-publication comments I had received from people such as Dave O'Malley, it is still more than I
  expected. You can be justifiably proud of your work.

Russell Bennett
Halifax, Nova Scotia
4 Nov 2002

• Wow! What a fantastic book … It took a few evenings just to work through the pictures. Now I am starting on the narrative. It is obvious so far that it was a labour of love for you.

Kevin Psutka
Ottawa, Ontario
5 Nov 2002

• We received your book today. We dropped everything and sat down to leaf through it and before we knew it 2 hours had passed. It is absolutely awesome ... the pictures are fabulous. Rich was drooling saying you were not kidding when you told him he would not have seen many of the great pictures.
  
  What a monumental achievement and you did it without a Canada Council Grant ... You and Ruth must be so proud of this valuable resource which you have so cleverly and beautifully put together. Every aviation enthusiast must have this book … We will be sending out our newsletter soon and will be adding a section about this marvellous book. Congratulations ...

Rich & Jay Thistle
Wasaga Beach, Ontario
5 Nov 2002

• Have received and reviewed what can only be described as the most fantastic tome of aviation history that I have had the privilege to own. I attended a mess dinner last night at the RCAF Mess and it was the topic of discussion from the top down.

Dave Thom
Manotick, Ontario
6 Nov 2002

• You have done an outstanding, fantastic, incredible job on the book. I can't believe the amount of research you must have done. When did you find time to do anything else in 7 years? You must have needed a huge staff as proof readers, layouts etc. (I'm sure your wife must have been a part of this work). There are so many names of old jocks I have known. Sure brings back a lot of memories of the good times and achievements. I never realized there were so many aero and demo teams in existence over the years … Again congratulations on a magnificent job. There will be a lot of reading and reminiscing this winter. Thanks for the memories …

Chuck Keating
Red Deer, Alberta
6 Nov 2002

• Dan, first of all, my copy arrived on Wednesday. Thanks very much. I immediately spent hours looking at it. Words fail me and, to his great credit, last night at the Ottawa Canadian Aviation Historical Chapter meeting when he talked about it (read "urged people to buy a copy"), words failed Tim Dubé as well. You have set a new standard Dan. There is NOTHING like this in existence. Anywhere. Period … Please accept my most sincere congratulations on an absolutely magnificent accomplishment.

Christopher J. Terry
President & CEO
Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation
Ottawa, Canada
8 November 2002

• Congratulations DAN - A truly magnificent book.

Jack Phillips
White Rock, British Columbia
9 Nov 2002

• I just want to thank you for inviting me to the book launch. It was a most interesting and enjoyable gathering. I also want to thank you for your generous recognition of Canadian Naval Aviation. Over the years we have been kind of the poor country cousin so it was gratifying to be acknowledged. I joined the RCAF in '42; switched to the RN Fleet Air Arm in the early spring of '45 and finally to Canadian Naval Aviation in Sep '45, so my loyalties are widespread … Your book is truly a masterpiece and I trust that it will meet with the high commercial success that it deserves. BRAVO ZULU!

Pat Whitby
Kanata, Ontario
10 Nov 2002

• I picked up my book the other day. I have one word for it: magnificent! You’ve done a wonderful job of organizing a huge amount of visual and textual data that grabs your attention and won’t let you go. Your extensive use of personal, ‘original source’ accounts combined with dazzling photographs breathe real life into the histories, while your clear prose masterfully stitches it all together … A Tradition of Excellence establishes a new benchmark in Canadian aviation publishing.

John H. Laidler
Courtenay, B.C.
11 Nov 2002

• Congratulations on the book. What a wonderful collection of pictures, words and stories … great work.

Jim Gregory
Pierrefonds, Quebec
12 Nov 2002

• Just a short note to thank you very much for the opportunity to attend your book launch last Friday. It was a class event, and I enjoyed it very much. Your book is outstanding, but knowing you for as long as I have, I expected nothing short of that. The speakers on Friday certainly said some very nice things about the book and the author, and every word of it was well said and true … Thanks, and congratulations once again on a magnificent achievement.

Ron Carter
Aston, Ontario
12 Nov 2002

• I'll keep this short as I'm sure your inbox is full of congratulations. In my case the book arrived at 1230, and except for a quick dinner break I didn't look up until 2200! Right back into it today. Good thing that I'm retired!! Outstanding Dan, absolutely outstanding.

Bob Hill
Penticton, British Columbia
15 Nov 2002

• I have never ever been so pleased with a book in my life as this one. It came this morning via Canpar. I simply cannot say enough about this book. Although I have only run through it briefly, all I can say is WOW - and how! Yes Dan, it did bring back a lot of memories for me as well as a lot of faces. I kid you not Dan, I have a big lump in my throat as I e-mail this to you. The quality of the paper, and above all the cover - this has to be the book of books. This is above and beyond ... I was simply flabbergasted when I opened the carton. My sincere congratulations on a job well done.

Hank H. Siemens,
Okanogan Falls, British Columbia
15 Nov 2002

• Your book has arrived safely and is outstanding … an absolutely dynamite book. You should be very proud of yourself …

Bill and Nancy Johnson,
Seattle, Washington
16 Nov 2002

• I was so excited and pleased to receive my copy a couple of weeks ago. The book is an amazing piece of work and your personal inscription at the beginning is much appreciated.
  
  As a photographer I always get a real kick out of seeing how other people use my photographs. I really like the images used and how they appear in the book and I feel privileged to have such a sizeable representation in the Snowbirds section. Great work …

Garry Cotter
Squamish, British Columbia
17 Nov 2002

• Your book is in a class of it's own! You obviously poured your heart and soul into it. You found a way to capture and present the essence of what it was to be in the CAF. I'm blown away. Thank you so much for providing a means to convey to our children and grandchildren, wives, friends, et al, of what it was like to be a part of our rich air force heritage.

Al Camplin
Chilliwack, British Columbia
18 Nov 2002

• May I congratulate you Dan for the outstanding piece of work "A Tradition of Excellence" represents. The thousands of hours required to research, collect and organize the information really paid off. The book certainly re-enforced my pride in our Air Force, its people and our country. Once again, congratulations.

Jacques Thibaudeau
Pierrefonds, Quebec
19 Nov 2002

• I received your book last night. It is huge and simply awesome. You can tell that you put a lot of work and effort into this one. There are so many beautiful pictures! In addition, I noticed some autographs for the Golden Hawks (1963) - this got me very excited. Thank you so much. I am telling my friends that this book is a must and sending them some electronic literature about it.

Jules Plamondon
Cold Lake, Alberta
20 Nov 2002

• Received my copy of your book yesterday. Only wanted to have a quick look at it last night … it was impossible, I just could not put it down. WOW !!!!! Simply a remarkable piece of work. Now I can understand why it took you a "bit longer" to complete. Congratulations for an impressive achievement … and thanks for allowing us to go through this "memory lane". The special copy #433 also made my day ... my wife saw the young fighter pilot come back into me sitting at the corner of the kitchen table ! ! ! Again, congrats. Je suis des plus impressionné.

Richard Brosseau
Laval, Quebec
21 Nov 2002

• What an incredible book! Congratulations on an outstanding piece of work. The detail and pictures are fantastic. I was still reading last night when I realized everyone else in the house had gone to bed! Again Dan, a super job.

Bob Singleton
Mission, British Columbia
21 Nov 2002

• Dan, I have been enjoying your book very much. I always thought that you would produce a book worthy of a prominent display in any home but I think that you have surpassed even your own goals and set a new (possibly unreachable) standard in the world of aviation literature. Your family must very proud of your achievement and extremely happy that you're finally finished! My parents are very impressed with their copy of the book. My Dad is enjoying the book very much and all my Mom could say was 'WOW'. Again, a job well done.

Bjorn Kjaer
Hong Kong, China
22 Nov 2002

• We received the book on Thursday afternoon and Chester hasn't been unable to put it down for two days. What a special keepsake this will be for us, as it brings back many fond memories. Thank you again for all the time and effort you spent on putting it all together … WE WILL ENJOY YOUR BOOK!

Chester and Judy Glendenning
Langley, British Columbia
23 Nov 2002

• It really is beautiful! The books arrived yesterday and we have spent several hours turning the pages. Photography is fabulous, the stories captivating, the printing superb... All of you have reason to be proud of what has been accomplished. The book will be treasured by many through the years, especially those most intimately connected to the subject matter. I believe you've got a real winner! Once it is seen, it will sell. I trust it will go a long way to accomplish the most important part of the purpose for its publication.

Oscar and Martha Sommerfeld
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
26 Nov 2002

• IT IS FANTASTIC!!! A really SUPERB job. I don't think anyone can top this one. You should be extremely proud of your masterpiece. I can't put it down. It covers my whole area in aviation since I was a kid, bicycling out to St. Hubert to see the Golden Hawks, watching probably all the Red Knights, lots of memories with the 104 - my absolutely favorite aircraft. And of course the Snowbird section … Thank you Dan! This book just adds to the immeasurable respect you have in the aviation community.

Bob McIntyre
Montreal, Quebec
27 Nov 2002

• Just received the book today, what a marvelous piece of work, you must be very proud of yourself for creating such a masterpiece. It was very kind of you to give us such a marvelous Xmas present … So thank you again, for your kindness and the lovely inscription.

Ben and Arlene Van Ruiten
Winnipeg, Manitoba
27 Nov 2002

• We just got home from vacation and found our copy of "A Tradition of Excellence". What a book! It was like "old home week" just skimming through it. Thank you so so much for all your hard work. It is a treasure that Myrna and I will read and reread over and over again. Thanks again Dan.

Jack and Myrna Kingscote
Whitehorse, Yukon
30 Nov 2002

• Just a note to tell you how much I admire your perseverance and dedication in completing what is an outstanding work. I am learning more from the book than I ever expected … it is a pleasure to read! There is a vast amount of history waiting to be explored… Congratulations!

Terry Lyons
Regina, Saskatchewan
1 Dec 2002

• Many thanks for the copies to my son and I. You must be congratulated for an excellent project result. Your hard work and attention to detail will be long remembered.

Denis Gauthier
Demorest, Georgia
1 Dec 2002

• I congratulate you for the magnificent book you have produced. I expected you would do the subject proud, but this was beyond my expectations – it is indeed superb. I have already found that the hours go by once I open the covers. Not only is it good-chronicled history of our aerobatic and formation teams but it’s instructive and entertaining. It’s also great for our military …

George Miller
Langley, B.C.
2 Dec 2002