ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
There was a quiet book signing Friday afternoon at the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. Dorothy Dickson McLaren and Roy Dickson Jr. are in town to share their father's rich history with the state he helped build.Roy Dickson’s children always knew their father lived an interesting life, but often felt his experiences were too good to keep to themselves. That’s why they’ve written a book, “Roy Dickson: 1930s Alaska Bush Pilot.”
“Well, we wanted to tell the story basically, quite an adventurous story,” said Roy Dickson Jr.
The senior Dickson was one of the great Alaska bush pilots of the 1930s, fliers who took on some of the toughest flying conditions and always delivered.
Dickson flew a simple plane with few luxuries -- primarily interior heating and insulation against the weather. He used vague maps and keen instinct to find his way. The weather was always changing and it forced Roy down more than once, but each time he returned home to Anchorage to share it all with his wife and kids.
“When he brought his movies home, why, he'd show the movies on the window shade so the kids in the neighborhood would get around and it was like a drive-in,” said Dorothy Dickson McLaren.
Dickson carried his 16-millimeter film camera everywhere he flew, at times keeping one hand on the yoke and the other on the focus. The images are a rare account of Alaska long before statehood.
A few years ago, Roy Dickson Jr. donated his father's film collection to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which cleaned it up and put it on tape. It was around that time that the Dickson children started sorting through some of their parents’ old notes.
This is where great family stories become written history. The younger Dicksons compiled their father’s tales into a book, with a DVD collection of his films. It's now on its second printing.
“It’s totally important to document history and experiences that people have had, and being a photographer I know that it’s important to keep those memoirs alive for people,” said reader Barbara Kates.
Dickson never got a chance to read the book which bears his name. He died years ago in a plane crash in the Lower 48.
Dorothy Dickson McLaren and Roy Dickson Jr. will also be signing their book Saturday morning at the Once in a Blue Moose gift shop in Anchorage. They'll also be in Homer and Talkeetna later in the week.
Contact Ted Land at tland@ktuu.com
