Into the Abyss (38 page)
Authors: Carol Shaben
6
“You put those together and you get an exceptional minister”: Keith Gerein, “Cancer Claims Larry Shaben,”
Edmonton Journal
, September 7, 2008, A3.
7
“I got to make tips”: Wink interview, December 4, 2006.
8
“He wanted to come home”: Wink interview, October 20, 2011.
9
“When he told her it was Demerol, she got mad”: Ibid.
10
“He needed somebody to appreciate his worth as a human being”: Larry Shaben interview, October 10, 2004.
11
“The airline had immediately launched a lawsuit against Transport Canada for damages, challenging the legality of the decision in court”: Wapiti’s lawsuit against Transport Canada never made it to trial.
12
“We saw a car’s lights go off and on a couple of times and from the angle of the lights, it was in the ditch”: Randy Hardisty, “Robbers Attack Shaben,”
Calgary Herald
, December 8, 1986.
13
“Stop the car. They need help”: Alma Shaben interview, December 8, 2010.
14
“turned to open the back door to let him in”: Hardisty, “Robbers Attack Shaben.”
15
“Don’t pay any attention to her. She’s drunk”: Alma Shaben interview, December 8, 2010.
1
“Hi Erik, Just a short note to let you know that I am still behind you in every way
”: Correspondence between Erik Vogel and Carla Blaskovits, May 1986. Courtesy of Erik Vogel.
2
“defamation lawsuit by Wapiti Aviation against the CBC for a documentary on the crash in which Erik, along with several other former Wapiti pilots, had participated”: The lawsuit never made it to trial.
3
“channelized attention with loss of situational awareness”: Erik Vogel, “It Won’t Happen to Me,” Helicopter Professional Pilots Safety Program newsletter, Volume 7, No. 1, 1995.
4
“It was life altering”: Deschamps interview, December 5, 2007.
5
“ ‘It would have been a disaster,’ Scott later told me, ‘because I was too busy trying to figure out what I needed’ ”: Ibid.
6
“ ‘That damn dog just stole my drink’ ”: Letter from Byron Christopher to Gayle Archambault following Paul’s death, May 14, 1991.
7
“He changed the way I looked at prisoners”: Ibid. Byron Christopher went on to become a crime reporter and eventually began a long-term correspondence with Richard Lee McNair, one of America’s most wanted prisoners. That correspondence resulted in an award-winning newspaper series and formed the basis of a biography, which Christopher is currently writing on McNair.
8
“He was no doubt very hungry, as it was gone in no time”: Author correspondence with Irene Jorgensen, December 2006.
9
“It wasn’t his job. He just did it”: Interview with Irene Jorgensen, December 10, 2006.
10
“I believe he had a heart of gold that had been badly damaged in his young life”: Ibid.
11
“People should have been looking after themselves, not expecting government to do it”: Larry Shaben interview, October 10, 2004.
12
“the minute you start pretending that you’re the reason and not your position, you’re lost”: Interview with Larry Shaben, Jr., November 29, 2011.
13
“I’ll lose the opportunity to go back out and work in the private sector”: Cherney interview, December 8, 2010.
14
“he didn’t ask for anything from me”: Deschamps interview, December 5, 2007.
15
“He said goodbye, and that was it”: Ibid.
16
“He put his life on the line to save another man”: Interview with Andrew McNeil, December 5, 2010.
17
“I think that ate at him, to be mocked by everybody”: Ibid.
18
“he wanted to be out in the bush the way Mother Nature meant man to die”: Daniel Archambault interview, April 1, 2009.
19
“there’s been nothing to say it was foul play”: John Ludwick, “Police Investigate Man’s Death,”
Daily Herald Tribune
, May 8, 1991, 1.
20
“I’d go into the bush and find these frozen remains”: Deschamps interview, December 5, 2007.
21
“If you ask me, someone bumped him on the head. I told the police that”: Bougiridis interview, November 11, 2011.
22
“I still dream of him”: Wink interview, October 20, 2011.
1
“I realize that I’ve been making a trail. So I figured why not just keep going”: Vogel interview, October 21, 2003.
2
“locating a small plane is nearly impossible in the bush if there is no ELT”: Author correspondence with Vogel, October 27, 2011.
3
“the accident of C-GXUC most likely would have been averted”: Federal Court of Canada Judgment in Court Action No. T-1637-85 between Sally Margaret Swanson and Her Majesty the Queen, February 6, 1990, 25. Justice Walsh quotes expert aviation witness Walter Gadzos, formerly of the Department of Transport, who assisted Justice Charles Dubin in the 1979 Commission of Inquiry on Aviation Safety.
4
“His eighty-two-year-old aunt knew Scott’s half-sister’s name was Joanne, and that she lived in Bulawayo”: Deschamps interview, December 5, 2007.
5
“I asked him, does he know anything about the Deschamps family?”: Ibid.
6
“I never had that connectedness before”: Ibid.
7
“Nor does it mean that it wasn’t a miracle—at least to me”: Deschamps, “Once Upon an Angel,” 17.
8
“he couldn’t do in business what he’d been able to as a Cabinet minister”: Cherney interview, December 8, 2010.
9
“If things got difficult, he persevered, and when others didn’t follow through, he was disappointed”: Larry Shaben, Jr. interview, November 29, 2011.
10
“reluctance to charge interest on money others borrowed from him—were deeply rooted in his faith”: In Islam, profit is permitted, but interest is forbidden.
11
“dance the
dabke
in the basement”: The
dabke
is a traditional Middle Eastern line dance.
12
“There was a lot of yelling and partying going on”: Interview with Sol Rolingher, November 29, 2011.
13
“continue a dialogue of mutual support and peace”: Edmonton Jewish and Muslim communities media release, September 12, 2001. Courtesy of Sol Rolingher.
14
“Treat each other with utmost respect and resist the temptation to lecture”: Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities, “Larry Shaben: An Embodiment of a True Leader,” September 10, 2008.
1
“Don’t worry about recognizing us, it said, we’ll be the ones grinning like idiots”: Author correspondence with Vogel, October 23, 2006.
2
“it never seems like enough”: Ibid.
3
“I’m not the black-and-white, rigid, career-driven, typical kick-down-the-door cop that I was”: Deschamps interview, December 5, 2007.
4
“who promote or develop housing or related services and who are passionate about what they do”: Homeward Trust Edmonton website,
http://www.homewardtrust.ca/programs/rooph-awards.php
.
5
“I would like to take my wife in my arms and apologize to her and tell her yes, we can have a child”: Larry Shaben interview, October 10, 2004.
6
“Not too many people have that experience”: Deschamps interview, December 5, 2007.
7
“why
a 6′3″ Fire Captain is crying at his desk”
: E-mail correspondence from Erik Vogel to Larry Shaben, September 4, 2008.
1.3
Alma Shaben
1.4
Edmonton Journal
1.5
Erik Vogel;
1.6
Edmonton Journal
1.7
Paul Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero” (1985), 28
1.14
QMI Agency;
1.15
Edmonton Journal
1.16
Edmonton Journal
;
1.17
Ken Archambault
1.22
Courtesy of the author
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T
his book took flight the day I met my agent, Jackie Kaiser. Months earlier, MFA classmate and fellow writer Rob Weston had recommended Jackie to me, but I’d been reluctant to contact her. I was still smarting from unsuccessful efforts to interest others in the book. I had shelved my business career to write, and had all but given up on my dream when an article I’d written on aviation safety for
The Walrus
(under the gifted stewardship of editor Jeremy Keehn) garnered a trio of National Magazine Award nominations.
Just after midnight on the day I was scheduled to fly across the country for the awards ceremony, I mustered the nerve to send Jackie a brief e-mail sketching an outline of the book and requesting a few minutes of her time. Her response was instantaneous. By the end of our two-hour meeting the next day I knew that I had found not only a remarkable champion, but also the makings of an enduring friendship.
I’ve often discovered that individuals of exemplary character and unbridled enthusiasm surround themselves with like-minded souls. To my great fortune, one such person in Jackie’s orbit was my editor, Anne Collins, publisher at the Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group. Within hours of receiving the proposal, she called Jackie with an offer. Anne’s commitment to and support for this book has since been
unwavering. Her extraordinary talent and vision as an editor is etched into every page. Anne, it has been a joy, inspiration and privilege to work with you.
I’ve also been fortunate to work with Amanda Lewis, associate editor, Knopf Random Canada. Not only is Amanda a skilled and sharp-eyed editor, she hails from the west coast and a firefighting family, both of which added to her impressive attention to, and understanding of, the characters, setting and subject matter.
Outside Canada, I’ve been blessed with two brilliant editors who worked seamlessly with Anne to help me create a far better book. My profound thanks extend to Jon Butler at Macmillan Publishers in London and Helen Atsma at Grand Central Publishing in New York for their insight, guidance and enthusiasm.
There is incredible trust involved in letting another person tell your story, especially one with such tragic and devastating personal consequences. Erik Vogel bestowed that trust upon me, and breathed life into this book the day he invited me to our first meeting at his home in the fall of 2003. He has since remained an honest and generous steward. My thanks go to Erik for his belief, patience and Herculean efforts to respond to my incessant inquiries and stay with me on this extraordinarily long journey. I am similarly thankful to Scott Deschamps, the other living survivor of this story, for trusting me to tread the tender and very personal territory of his remarkable life, and to Heidi Petrak, who helped me keep the faith. My gratitude also goes to Paul Archambault’s siblings: Ken, Daniel and Angele, for sharing Paul’s unpublished manuscript and the details of his life; to Sue Wink for her unstinting honesty; and to his aunt Myrna Quesnel and friend Andrew McNeil, for responding to the tiny, obscure ads I placed in their local newspapers. Paul was always a hero to me, and I hope I have done justice to his noble spirit.