4 ~ Sunday, April 16, 1989 - Eyan Valley Echo ‘LIBRARY NEWS Author Spilsbury to A LIFETIME spent living and working up and down the West Coast has resulted in two successful books and a large collection of landscape paintings for Jim Spilsbury. As part of the National Book Festival in Canada, the West Van- couver author, who is also a B.C. pioneer and entrepreneur, will be the featured speaker at the Lynn Valley. Library, Tuesday, April 18 at 7 p.m He is known for his two books, Spilsbury’s: Coast and The Ac- cidental Airline, both of ‘which recall his fascinating — and often hair-raising — experiences as a pi- oneer of radio communications in the maze of inlets. and islands which make up B.C.’s coast. His most treasured memories are those of the period between the -. wars, when the coastal community - was made up of. an assortment of “loggers, fishermen, stump ran- chers, hermits, remittance men, Greek scholars, e¢x-prostitutes, former stagecoach robbers | and outright lunatics.”’ . Much of what has happened to Spilsbury, from him starting his own airline to publishing his books has ’ been: totally. accidental and unplanned. . _. After years of. ‘*knocking about’’ the coast, blundering into various occupations, he’s amazed to find himself an author. ¢ “An> author is somebody I ‘would normally stay away from,’’ « jokes Spilsbury. A compactly built. man who favors plaid shirts, Spilsbury writes, paints and gardens in: a sunny waterfront corner of Horse- shoe Bay on property purchased some 20 years ago for a laughable amount of money. -Some 83 years ago, bowing to family pressure,’ his parents left their Whonnock farm = and journeyed to Darbyshire, England, so that Jim would not have to be born ‘in: the. colonies.’. They returned "to the: farm a year or so later. When he was ; seven, the family moved to Savory Island where they tented on the beach for about 10 years before raising the money to build a house. . “While his father supported the family with odd jobs, Spilsbury managed to obtain four years of schooling, before he was appren- ticed as a seaman. Six months of seasickness later, his parents bought him out of the deal and he went to work in a log- ging camp, well paid at $7 a day. Intrigued by the radios he had seen during his brief career at sea, Spilsbury used his earniags to buy parts and set himself up. in the radio business on Savory Island. After years of “knocking about’’ the coast,. blundering into various occupations, he’s amazed to find himself an author. Encouraged by moderate success with local fishermen and boaters, Spilsbury acquired his own boat and began chasing business up and / down the coast. “It beat the hell out of working for a living,’”” he recalls. A few years later he took ona partner and opened an office in Vancouver. One of his first loca- tions, a building he built on Cardero Street opposite the Bayshore Inn, is destined to be knocked down in May. It was when the business moved to Robson Street that he met his’. Winnifred, who second wife, began assembling radio parts for him. During the Second World War, when the servicing he did was essential and gas in short supply, Spilsbury’s pilot cousin persuaded him to by an airplane. For $500 down and a promise of $500 to come, he purchased a float plane from a Montreal man, who attempted to deliver it to the West Coast. But he lost his gumption coming over the mountains. “He feft it forme tied to a farmer’s fence. near Princeton,” recalls Spilsbury. - The plane was such a boost to the business that by the end of the war he was transporting goods and people as well as doing radio work. By 1949, Spilsbury’s Queen Charlotte Airlines was the third largest airline in Canada for miles flown, freight miles and passenger miles — after Canadian Pacific and Air Canada. Although Spilsbury learned how to fly one of his smaller planes, he eventually decided that it would be best for all concerned if he stayed out of that end of the business. Spiisbury sold the airline to PWA in 1955 and concentrated on e.randing his radio business until it was finally sold some eight years ago. < While giving a talk somewhere about his adventures, Spilsbury was | ‘discovered’ by publisher Howard White, who wrote a few stories about him for the Raincoast Chronicles. ' About 10 years ago they started - working on a book together. This finally came together in the form of Spilsbury’s Coast, which expe- rienced instant success and is now -in its third printing. ‘Spilsbury puts a lot of it down to an excellent editing job on the part of his collaborator, . White, : “who i is very good at writing in my. style.”” His first book, some 26 weeks on the B.C. Bestseller list, was followed by The Accidental Airline, which is now in its second printing. The books were illustrated with a few of Spilsbury’s paintings, the result of a hobby he started as a child. Dreamy renderings of coastal scenes in all their variations, they show Spilsbury’s ability to capture ripples in dark waters, the glew of thick moss on rotten wood and the warmth of the sun on evergreens. No one could have.been. more surprised at the success of nis own art show than Spilsbury, who at 82. . displayed his pastel paintings for the first time through the Ca- nadian Federation of Artists. Spilsbury’s third book will likely be a coilection of some of his paintings with a short commen- tary. Recognition of Spilsbury’s work Photo submitted A MAN of varied practical skills and recently discovered artistic abilities, Jim Spilsbury will be discussing at Lynn Vaticy Library the rugged life he spent up and down the coast which provided the material for two suc- cessful books. on the coast has also come by way of being on the list of 75 achievers during West Vancouver's 75th an- niversary and his receipt of the federal government’s Inuksuk award for his. contribution to communications. | The B.C. Historical Association has also honored him with an award for his books. He says he doesn’t miss the ex- citement of his more active years, which were sometimes fraught with danger and tragedy. “T spent many. years trying to forget those times, but writing the ‘quest of books has made me relive it,’’ says Spilsbury. Complaining that he doesn't have his weekends free any more, Spilsbury is sharing a busy retire-. ment with his wife Win. At the re- their children from previous marriages, they wed in 1970, legalizing a relationship that had already endured some 17 - years, Some of ‘Spilsbury’ 's paintings will be on display to complement his talk at the library: Seating is limited so early arrival is recommended. New books described — THE FOLLOWING books, selected by Lynn Valley librarian Noreen Ballantyne, are new to the local branch. Call . 984-0286 for more information. ©The coming. quake, Heppenheimer. Times 1988. “The author weaves the voices of scientists ‘ with the history and by T.A. Books, legend surrounding quakes and of- | fers a hard-edged account of our efforts to understand and survive ‘ this fearful prospect. ®In tsouble again, by Redmond O’Hanlon. Alton M.P., 1988. Another outrageous and witty book about. this © naturalist’s four-month trip. up. the Orinoca . River and- across. the Amazon Basin. * Her. name, Titanic, by Charles R. Pellegrind. McGraw-Hill, 1988. Unique and fascinating book which is perhaps the most dramatic », account of the sinking of the ‘‘un- sinkable”’ liner and: the dramatic: science-fi ction-like. fi inding of. the ship... - © Long” time . gone, by David Crosby. Doubleday, 1988: © .. - This long awaited autobiography ‘of David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, ~ Nash and Young is more than the | “eGood cholesterol, story of a rock ’n roll artist. Writ- ten with a friend who witnessed his ride on fame and misfortune, this book chronicles a whole American generation, © A bright shining light: John Paul . Vana and American in Vietnam, by Neil Sheehan. Random House, 1988. Melding biography and history, this is the story of the American officer who was the closest the U.S. in Vietnam came to a Lawrence of Arabia. It is a memo- rial work on the Vietnam War. . ¢The power game: how Washington works, by Hedrick Smith. Random House, 1988... =~ An eye-opening inside portrait of how Washington, D.C. really ° works and how the game of gov- « " erning is played in the 1980s, by a. favorite panelist from PBS's .: Washington Week in Review. cholesterol, by Eli: Roth. Prima Pub., Fest nalor book on cholesterol written bya team of. car- diovascular specialists. that covers all aspects. of. nutrition, . ¢ reading labels and increasing*in- - take of ‘‘good"’ cholesterol: “.@ Children of China, by-Ann-ping © diet, . Chin. Knopf, 1988. - A young Chinese-American conducted extensive interviews with hundreds of Chinese children ranging in ages from six to. 16. Results are compelling insight into the childhood experience in con- temporary China. ® To the navel of the world: yaks and unheroic travels in Nepal and - Tibet, by. Peter Somerville-Large. Hamish Hamilton, 1987. : An extraordinary adventure fill- ed with some danger and consider- - able humor. This book traces the author's trek by yak, accompanied by -a very’ determined photog-apher, through this Temote region of the world. © Natalie and RJ, by Warren D. . Harris. ‘A typical Hollywood biography of two famous and often unhappy : .~people,- bad. - pire and its threat to America,’ by » Danicl Burstein: “& ~ Schuster, 1988... * Yen! Japan’s new financial em: “Simon ‘A. New |: York-based ” i: takes up the controversial issue of: what lies ahead for. Americans in’ the 21st: century: as" wealth and ° power continue to. shift: across the. Pacific. : a ‘