This is a book I should have written. I had suggested same to Don before he was diagnosed with colon cancer, but trustfully, even though he had appeared in LIFE, and other national magazines, and even though other bush pilots accused him of being a publicity hound, the frontier side of this Alaskan was a bit bewildered by all the attention.

But in many ways, this book is the story I was interested in. I remember Don as being one of the most alive persons I have ever known. He had so many colorful expressions even chatting across a two-way radio link was the equivalent of listening to a weeks worth of Lake Woebegone tapes. How bizarre that Don survived more than the allowed missions in a B-17 over Germany in World War II, survived 30 years and the loss of his bush partner, flying the bush— only to be taken out by cancer. To me his message was, in the time of your life —live.

Now James Greiner, a pilot himself, did a wonderful job of capturing the exploits of this trailblazing pilot, and for this reason I recommend this book be in libraries of those with a interest in things truly Alaskan.

What I would really like to recommend would be a loving memory of the man by Roberta Sheldon, who is showing real talent as a writer, first as a Talkeetna historian, and then a novelist with the Cache Creek Murders (both out of print at the moment, but I am trying to get them listed on these pages). But, Roberta also is a bit shy about sharing her personal life with outsiders, or taking her rightful place as a legend of the North. Perhaps in a novel format Roberta could also incorporate her mother (want to talk about a character) and father, Bob Reeve who also was a Glacier Pilot, by Beth Day of Doubleday.

Barry Murray