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Local veteran writes his life in Farm Boy to Fly Boy

Gordon Brennand is the author of Farm Boy to Fly Boy, a self-published memoir that tracks the story of his youth on the farm near Manson through to his air force years.
brennand
Gordon Brennand with his self-published memoir Farm Boy to Fly Boy.

Gordon Brennand is the author of Farm Boy to Fly Boy, a self-published memoir that tracks the story of his youth on the farm near Manson through to his air force years.

It’s full of personal stories and images that document his rural upbringing in Western Manitoba and the lifelong friendships he forged in the RCAF.

“I started writing it ten years ago, then I left it on the shelf for the next nine years,” he says. “I picked it back up a year ago and finished it.”

Urged to publish

He thought it was a story that just his family would appreciate but they’re the ones who persuaded him to publish.

“They stroked my ego,” he says with a smile.

Brennand was too young to participate in WWII like his older brothers, but had plenty of adventures as a pilot flying 1100+ hours on the Sabre fighter jet during his 34 years in the RCAF. Although he didn’t see combat, there were several close calls including a forced landing and having to eject from his plane.

Brennand commanded two bases in Canada and lived in Germany during the Cold War.

After his military career, he returned to his roots and started a cattle operation near Manson. He’s now retired in Virden.

500 copies

Brennand recently visited the book’s printers to pick up the 500 copies he ordered. Farm Boy to Fly Boy isn’t even in stores yet and he’s already sold nearly 100 copies.

Two hundred more will be accompanying Brennand to Vancouver later this year when he attends a reunion of his old air force buddies.

It’s the first book he’s written (and the last, he vows) so there were a few challenges.

“The hardest part was not putting in too much detail. Detail is fine for family and friends, but other readers might not be so interested! So we had to do a lot of editing.”

The ebook version is now available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indigo Books. Brennand hopes to get paperback copies into Virden stores soon. 

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