Coming Soon
Several decades ago, Kingston author Thomas Frood worked two summers for Spartan Air Services in the Canadian North, as a radio operator and weather observer in support of the company’s mapping business. The Spartan Chronicles is a collection of incidents, anecdotes and stories from the that time.
Here’s a short excerpt:
I had the door about half-opened when I saw the bear at our garbage dump about a hundred feet away. It was an amazing looking creature, truly magnificent in size and appearance.
With faltering courage, I stepped out and aimed the rifle above and behind the bear deciding to send a shot off into the grey-white Arctic sky hoping the sound of the rifle’s report would terrorize it. The hard kick of the rifle was unexpected as the boom and the echo resounded across the estuary. The bear turned toward me but did not run away as I had expected. Oh no, I thought. It just turned and looked at me.
My heart pounded as I sent another round into the air behind it but closer this time. Boom and kick and echo. The bear started to circle. This time, now that it was moving, was the time to act again. I sent the third shot behind it into the rocky shale. Splat! The bear now started to lope away. Thank God, I thought.
Marley came out of the other tent half-asleep and saw the bear as it moved toward the bay. “Did you get a picture?” was all he said.
The Spartan Chronicles was edited by DA Brown, and will be available soon as a paperback and an eBook.
Somewhat Grumpy Press 