BLESS YOU, BROTHER IRVIN -The Caterpillar Club Story
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This is a compendium of true stories of those men and women who have exited from burning airplanes and hot air balloons and parachuted to safety. This makes them eligible for membership in the Caterpillar Club, begun in the 1920s by Leslie Irvin, a Canadian parachute manufacturer.
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By John Neal
ISBN#1-894263-94-4
ISBN#9781894263948
Starting with Dolly Shepherd, a pioneer Caterpillar who bailed out from a hot air balloon in 1906, we read accounts of those who made daring, astonishing, even bizarre escapes and lived to tell about it. Mr. Neal is himself a member of the Club, and proudly wears his caterpillar pin with the ruby eyes. His own story appears in this account along with about thirty others.
About the Author
Born in Verdun, Quebec, on October 3rd, 1923, John served with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1945. During this time, he flew as a bomb aimer with #419 "Moose" Squadron operations over Europe. Shot down over France on his thirteenth trip, John evaded capture for five months before returning to England, and home.
After the war, John completed a degree at McGill University, and then worked in the chemical industry in sales, product research and development, and consulting, until his retirement in 1988. It was then he found his true love - writing. He has penned a number of books, such as The Lucky Pigeon, Rusty's Mountain, The Scheidhauer Experience, and a series of humorous "Flightplan" travel stories. John also dabbles in poetry.
For many years he has been collecting stories of bailouts from around the world, and this has finally resulted in the book, Bless You, Brother Irvin. He hopes you enjoy reading it as much as he did collecting the stories.
