John Forbes, a Comox Valley resident, writes of growing up in Ocean Falls, B.C., working in the sawmills, joining the RCAF and travelling Europe in his autobiography, Ocean Falls and Beyond.
Forbes will have readers shaking their heads wondering how he survived in the isolated mill town on B.C.’s Northwest Coast, not to mention his close calls while with the RCAF.
“This book also gives the reader an inside look at life in the Canadian military. A refreshing voice with more than a few chuckles,” author Katherine Gibson says.
Not only are Forbes’ characters thought-provoking, he also takes us back to bygone eras: the demise of the pulp and paper industry in B.C., the consequences of the Cold War, and the disappearance of grain elevators across the Canadian Prairies.
Always disappointed that his father, who ran away from home at a young age, never talked about those 10 lost years, Forbes claims that his book was initially written as a legacy for his siblings, children and grandchildren. What readers will realize is Ocean Falls and Beyond is truly a story of what it means to grow up Canadian.
Ocean Falls and Beyond is available at Laughing Oyster in Courtenay, Blue Heron in Comox, Mid Island Gifts at Comox Airport and Coho Books in Campbell River.