Time--it's all relative

My current project is to put together a presentation for the Western Front Association, Pacific Coast Branch conference and AGM in Victoria, March 4th to 6th. My topic is "The Canadian Cavalry Brigade in World War I". To do so I have done a historical summary and collected images to tie in with the editorial copy. One photo takes me back: my father and me, standing on the front steps of our house, in approximately 1962. I am in the uniform of an RCN midshipman. A much earlier photo shows Dad, c 1914-15, in cavalry uniform, with his father and grandfather.
When the photo of Dad and me was taken, he would have been 68 or 69 years old, my current age. When I was a young man the days of my father's youth, and the Great War, seemed an impossibly long time before. But in the Second World War, when I was born, WW I must have seemed like the day before to Dad.

Now that I have entered the world of 1914 via writing "Soldier of the Horse", it is starting to feel like yesterday, even to me, ninety-seven years later.

Military belongs on campus

Military belongs on campus

Strathconas Ride Again

Thanks to Ursula Mawell-Lewis, who wrote a very kind article for the Reporter; see it here: http://www.bclocalnews.com/lifestyles/116365029.html

Launch is coming for "Soldier of the Horse"

Working hard toward the upcoming launch in the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 6, 17567-57th Ave, Cloverdale on March 2nd at 7 pm. I have sent out 300 emails today, according to hotmail, as they have now shut me down for 24 hours! "Only" about 250 of those were invitations to the launch, so lots more to do tomorrow if the system lets me continue.

"Soldier of the Horse" Arrives

Here I am with "Soldier of the Horse"--the first copy out of the box. It has been an exciting trip, especially as the publication date approached. What with the launch set for March 2nd, in the Cloverdale Legion, and the book in distribution at this time, I am anxiously awaiting reaction from readers. It is 93 years since the cataclysmic events that inspired this story; I hope I have done it justice.

Here are the memers of the first readers' editorial board, without whom the project would not have happened. Thanks, Ross, Pat and Scott.

Countdown to "Soldier of the Horse"

There is barely a month left before the book launch for "Soldier of the Horse." The event is set for March 2nd, in the Cloverdale Branch No. 6 of the Royal Canadian Legion, 17567 57th Avenue, Cloverdale. I am looking forward to seeing lots of family, friends, and fellow writers; and to telling them a little about the book, why I wrote it, and what's on tap for the future. Not that I have actually seen the book yet, but I am assured it is in the pipeline!

Western Front Association

A good friend, hearing about the book I was then writing, suggested I join the Western Front Association, and I am very glad I did so. The WFA is based in the UK, and was "formed with the aim of furthering interest in the period 1914-1918, to perpetuate the memory, courage aond comradeship of those of all sides who served their countries..." The Association publishes an excellent journal, "Stand To!" as well as regular bulletins, both of which are very authoritative and informative.

(Photo: Messrs Allinson, Patten, and Broznitsky; past president, founder, and president respectively of the Pacific Coast Branch)

Even better, from my point of view, is that there is a Pacific Coast Branch of the WFA headquartered in Victoria with informal get-togethers in the Lower Mainland. The main event, however, is the annual Seminar and AGM, to be held this year on the first weekend in March, the 2nd through 4th. Speakers will include Colonel (Retired) Keith Maxwell on "Canada and the Last 100 Days of WW I;" Charlotte Cardoen, who is a certified battlefield guide; and a number of other distinguished presenters.

I will be the last presenter, on the Sunday, on the topic of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade in WW I. I am looking forward to sharing the research I have done.