Marilyn Crosbie was a friend and patient of the late Dr. Jack Pickup — known as the Flying Doctor of British Columbia.
She found his story so compelling that she approached him about writing his story in the 1970s.
Rebuffed, but not deterred she kept the idea alive, collecting anecdotes, photographs and ideas for a book that tells the story of the doctor who served an area of over 10,000 square kilometres from Campbell River to Bella Bella through the hospital at Alert Bay.
Very early in his practice, Dr. Pickup realized he would need to learn to fly to reach sick and injured people in the many villages and camps of the region he served. So in 1950, he learned to fly and purchased his first airplane, a Piper Super Cruiser.
Crosbie has written the story of her experiences with Dr. Pickup as physician, friend and community leader. She tells a story of early days in the establishment of medical care in coastal British Columbia, of a life in which fishing and logging are the major enterprises. Of life on northern Vancouver Island before Highway 19 connected communities.
Meet author Marilyn Crosbie at the Laughing Oyster Bookshop, 286 Fifth Street in downtown Courtenay this Thursday between 2 and 3 p.m.
— Laughing Oyster Bookshop