Meet one of Canada’s pioneering plane crash mechanics
Maureen Routledge is matter-of-fact about her groundbreaking career as the first Canadian woman to become a licensed aircraft engineer. She’s also a bit cryptic about her personal life.
Life begins at 55
June Raymond was so excited about becoming a senior that she snuck into the Golden Age Society under age. This spry woman was only 53.
Battling with the bottle
Brenda Smith drank heavily between the ages of 13 and 19. Now 23, she's pretty but says her behaviour when drunk was not. "I was in government care since I was a baby."
Hanging out with the boys in black hoodies
A boy in a black hoodie with shoulders hunched shuffles his way towards me on a downtown street in Whitehorse. There’s a gash on his face now covered by a scab. We’re acquainted, so I ask, “What’s up with the road rash?”
Life is Ducky
Donald Gordon, nicknamed Ducky, tells me he wakes up in his car at 4 a.m. daily. He says that’s where he lives.
The many worlds of Garry Chaplin
Garry Chaplin rocks my world. I’m unsure if he knows it. Garry is autistic. Or not. Experts couldn’t agree when he was diagnosed two decades ago. To me he’s an enigma.
The long ride with heroin
Irma Scarff had a 35-year ride with heroin that took her to the mean streets of Canada's largest cities and to a cell in the notorious Kingston Penitentiary for women.
Making do at the Salvation Army
There's an aroma of shepherd's pie wafting from the Salvation Army kitchen as I enter the old building for my shift one morning last month. I chop veggies here.
Old World brass in Old Town
Yukoners use their sagging detached garages to indulge their passions. In Old Town, Whitehorse that can be tinkering with trucks, building projects, and most often storing their treasures that can’t fit into the small houses.
Teenage tail gunner took great chances
Frederick Peacock once accepted a job where life expectancy was 45 minutes. He was a teenager, his buddy was doing it and it sounded like it would be fun.
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