Over the last few years, Jake Morrel has sent me copies of his books as they're released. His first was a memoir of starting a lodge in the North Maine Woods, called Hardscrabble Lodge: True Maine Bush Flying Stories. It was a quaint and nostalgic tale of following his own dreams-- something that seems very difficult for many of us.
In his latest book, he sits down with a fellow named Gary Dumond, who after returning home from Vietnam, having survived 1400+ hours as a helicopter pilot, went to work flying for the Maine Warden Service. The Maine Warden Service is the equivalent of what many other states call Fish and Game, or Fish and Wildlife. Morrel basically transcribes his conversation with Dumond, and manages to coax story after story from him about the years spent flying PA-12s and 185s and many other aircraft in his job. He even maintains Dumond's vernacular, an effect that really sets the stage for his character and preserves the cultural tone.
Jake sent me a few excerpts from the book to turn into an article for our BCP series Tales From Yesteryear. I absolutely LOVE reading these stories from the era, and especially the film photos. There's a quality about them that just speaks to a different time, like seeing photos of my young grandparents; the presumption that things were simpler and better then.
There's not enough of this stuff being captured from that generation. Thank you Jake for taking the time to take a snapshot of one old pilot.
Have stories of backcountry or bush flying from a bygone era? Photos? Contact me. I can take film prints, slides, or negatives, and return them after scanning. -z
