Book Review
FATE IS THE HUNTER
by Ernest K. Gann.
Published by
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Ernest K Gann is well known as
the author of such best-selling
novels as “The High and The
Mighty” and “Twilight for the
Gods,” but few are aware of his
long and dramatic career as a com
mercial airline pilot.
In “Fate Is The Hunter,” the
Book-of-the-Month Club Selection
for February, Gann tells of this
other side of his life. He was a neo
phyte when the industry was
young. When he set his flight bag
down for the last time, long after
World War II, commercial aviation
had become an established indus
try transporting vast quantities of
freight and mail and tens of thous
ands of passengers each year from
one end of the world to the other.
Like every other commercial
pilot, Gann served a long appren
ticeship. His log book recorded
3,120 hours and ten minutes when
he took out his first flight as cap
tain. Behind him were many gruel
ing hours of training and more
than one near-fatal mistake.
As captain, Gann flew from one
end of the world to the other—
from the Hebrides to the Sudan,
from Ascension Island to Thule,
from Baffin Bay to Natal. On one
occasion he narrowly missed crash
ing into the Taj Mahal, on another
he carried girders to Greenland,
toilet paper to Iceland. He ferried
planes over the uncharted jungles
of Brazil, and, after World War II,
he found himself involved in the
sorry business of transporting
Puerto Ricans to New York—an
operation controlled by avaricious
booking agents who had no com
punctions about loading the planes
beyond legal limits.
He discovered that the only
characteristic common to all air
craft is their capability of leaving
the earth. Otherwise, they were,
and are, as individual as breeds of
animals.
“The DC-3,” he says, “is an
amiable cow, grazing placidly in
the higher pasture lands, marvel
ously forgiving of the most clumsy
pilot.”
Of the C-87: “It was said that the
assembly of parts known collect
ively as a ‘C-87’ would never re
place the airplane. ... ‘A C-87 does
not really fly (said an experienced
pilot). No, indeed, it does not fly.
It is merely a crude form of levita
tion.’ ”
Of the C-54: “The greatest single
boost to long-range over-ocean fly
ing was the introduction of the
Douglas C-54, later to become fa
miliar as the DC-4. It was, in every
sense, a wonderful flying ma
chine.”
More than a book about flying,
“Fate Is the Hunter” is, in Gann’s
DODGE-LANCER
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COME IN AND FEEL IT FOR SIZE
Automobile Parts Goodyear Tires
CLARK’S GARAGE
PHONE 486—5244
True the whole
world over...
hi
Water
makes the
difference
ALASKA TRANSFER & STORAGE
AGENT FOR
Martin Van Lines
We handle Packing, Crating and Shipping
from Kodiak to all Alaskan points. United
States, Hawaii and Germany.
Box 605
I
Plan Cold Storage
Construction Soon
Kodiak Cold Storage Company
has indicated its intentions of call
ing for bids for the construction of
the various components of the pro
posed new cold storage plant, im
mediately following the ratifica
tion of the sale of the property
owned by the Ctiy of Kodiak
known as the old cold storage site.
Kodiak Cold Storage Company,
in announcing its plans for the de
velopment of the cold storage in
dustry at Kodiak, emphasizes the
fact that the proposed plant will
consist of new buildings and equip
ment and will be a new industry to
Kodiak. It will not be a sideline of
an existing business requiring a
modest expansion of the facilities
of the existing business. The new
plant 'will provide a new basic in
dustry with employment opportuni
ties as well as increased business
for Kodiak in general. Fishermen
will find the distinct advantage in
the new organization in that it will
always assure them of at least two
markets for their catch.
The presently contemplated
plant with its estimated comple
tion date late this year will have
an initial capacity of 500,000
pounds. The facility will be con
structed so that expansion to an
ultimate capacity of 2,000,000
pounds can be accomplished with a
minimum of effort and without the
interruption of operation of the
initial plant.
own words, “a book about fate, a
book about fear.” And as a pilot,
Gann came to understand that pi
lots are in many ways a very special
kind of man.
Kodiak-Aleutian
Realty Services
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Business
Franchised Dealer for
Lockwall Homes
APPR AFSAI S
LIFE INSURANCE
Notary Public
Staff Licensed and Bonded
by
State Real Estate Commission
George H. Cornelius, Broker
For Appointment Call 486 2960
Banquet Tonight
For Cub Pack 213
Parents and guests will join Cub
Pack 213 for the annual Blue and
Gold Banquet sponsored by the
PTA, tonight beginning at 6:30.
Awards will be presented to the
Cubs during this event, which will
be held in the new school cafeteria.
NOTICE
Dr. E. E. Bach, Optometrist, will be
in Kodiak to do eye examinations on
Feb. 26 through March 2.
For an appointment call Mrs. Carl
Huer at 486—2451 after 5 p. m. and
weekends, or 486—2929 daytime.
KODIAK
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Savings of if to 50% or Morn
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