Adventures
in the World of Publishing.
Profile
of Jerry W. Bird
 From
Canada's vast, rugged Northwest to Africa's
emerging nations, life's adventure continues to
unfold for
the Editor Publisher of Africa Travel and Air
Highways Magazine. Born in the
Klondike
Gold Rush capital, Dawson
City,
Jerry Bird's wilderness adventures started early in
life. Dog teams, horse drawn sleighs, snowshoes,
parkas and mukluks were part of the everyday scene
in winter, while ice floes on the Yukon River and a
brilliant midnight sun marked the changing seasons.
Treks by saddle and pack horse, as part of a
Canadian Government Topographical Survey team,
scaling yet unnamed Yukon mountains, flights by
float plane to remote lakes, and two exciting
seasons as a crew member on the riverboat SS Keno,
(below) set the stage for many adventures to
come.
Dawson
City Days:
Jerry's father,
Don
Bird of Seattle,
served
with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the Yukon
Territory. His mother, Violet, was from Vancouver,
British Columbia. Dawson city was like a
time-capsule; a living
museum reminiscent of the Mark Twain era, with
relics of Gold Rush Days on every corner. Monster
gold dredges still operated on Bonanza, Eldorado
and other Klondike creeks. Arctic grayling and
salmon teemed in the rivers, lakes and tailing
ponds - and every growing boy soon learned to cope
with nature. Many of Jerry's school friends were of
native heritage, which added another dimension, an
attitude of tolerance.
 Travel
on the narrow-gauge White Pass & Yukon Railway,
along the shoulders of Alaska's Sawtooth Range and
Trail of '98, plus journeys on Canada's two great
transcontinental routes, fueled his interest in
rail travel
(See
Adventure
Rails).
Flying with Pat Callison and other Northern bush
pilots, followed by service in the Royal Canadian
Air Force, sharpened his interest in
aviation.
The
Steamer Keno , last
of a proud fleet of sparkling white Yukon River
Paddle wheelers, trimmed in gingerbread, with its
tall yellow smokestack and bright orange paddle
wheel, is now a permanent museum in Dawson City.
Sailings along the misty fjords of the Alaska
Panhandle and Inside Passage, from Skagway, Alaska
to Vancouver, BC, whet Jerry's appetite for
waterborne adventures.
Edmonton,
Alberta,
Canada:
Jerry W. Bird's media career was launched at The
Edmonton Journal, a major daily newspaper, owned by
Southam. His public speaking efforts began in
Calgary, with Toastmasters International, and
continued with association work and broadcast media
appearances. The creative process, using all
aspects of communications technology excites him.
Desktop and web publishing, opened up huge avenues
as a self publisher and broadcaster. Jerry has been
equally inspired by many other developments along
the way, from color lithography to award-winning
audio visual productions.
This
combination of experiences became the pathway to
his launch of Air Highways Magazine in 1995 with
support from Transport Canada's Regional Director
and over 30 airport managers.
A
dual citizen
(Canada-USA),
Jerry
joined the Africa
Travel
Association
(ATA) in 1995 to launch Africa Travel Magazine,
whose reach is world wide thanks to its 1,150 page
web site. To promote the magazines, he has
organized a series of travel industry events in
Vancouver, where he is President of ATA Canada
Chapter.
Partnerships
and Associations. Mr.
Bird was keynote speaker on "Tourism" at the Trans
Canada Yellowhead Highway Association's 56th Annual
Convention in Edmonton, Alberta. His experience
with governments included agencies at all levels.
He has worked with and produced training and
marketing films for many organizations, including
the Propane
Gas Association of
Canada
which won a Creative Excellence Award at the U.S.
Industrial Film Festival. Others include the
Canadian Petroleum Association, Canada's
Manufactured Housing industry, Certified General
Accountants' Association of Canada, RV
Manufacturers, Shrine-Lions Sweepstakes, Alberta's
Electrical Power Companies Group, Alberta Potato
Growers, Hotel and Travel Industry associations,
and the Housing and Urban Development
Association (Homexpo).
Corporate
and Government Client
Projects.
His first environmental projects dealt with "Oil
Spill Recovery and Cleanup" for the Canadian
Petroleum Association and Imperial Oil (Esso) and
programs for Alberta's Electrical Power Companies.
The Government of Canada hired Jerry to produce
several features, including "Alaska
Highway- The First 50
Years.
" For the Trans Canada Yellowhead
Highway
Association, Mr. Bird was keynote speaker in 2002
and wrote the content for their latest magazine
Yellowhead It, which profiles all of the
communities en route from Winnipeg to the Pacific
Coast. Articles and features by Mr. Bird have
appeared in national and regional magazines and
newspapers, while his video and audio visual titles
currently number close to 100.
Mr. Bird's
client list includes: Alaska Highway 50th
Anniversary, Alberta Treasury Branches, Holiday
Inns, Avis Rent A Car, Best Western International,
Burns Foods Group, Calgary Brewing, Calgary
Exhibition & Stampede, Carma Developers,
Cargill Inc, CGA-Canada, City of Calgary, City of
Edmonton, City of Saskatoon, Dupont Chemicals, Eli
Lily & Co, Family Life Insurance Group,
Government of Alberta, Government of Canada, Gulf
Oil Canada, Imperial Oil (Esso), May & Baker,
P. Lawson Travel, Purity 99 Gasoline, Quadrant
Developers, Sheraton Hotels, Sunny Boy Cereal,
Travel Alberta, Travelodge and University of
Calgary. In addition to the above, he has handled
numerous retail marketing projects.
Read excerpts
from "Angels
On My
Shoullder”
in Mr. Bird's Keynote Speech to the Trans Canada
Yellowhead Highway Association in Edmonton.
"With
the escalating cost of paper, a valuable forest
resource, publishers should expand their reach and
serve more readers per copy. A good magazine is a
keeper, with an extended life span, like National
Geographic which never seems to go out of date. On
the Internet, the real challenge is to cut through
the clutter and bombardment of asinine sales
pitches and empty
promises."
Jerry
W;. Bird
|
Jerry
W. Bird: Editor, Publisher, Award
Winning A/V Producer. Mr. Bird's columns
have appeared in Latitudes Magazine
(Montreal), Africa Travel Magazine, Air
Highway Journal of Open Skies, Canadian
Traveller Magazine, Maturity Magazine,
Roads to Canada's Great Drives, Seattle
Prime Times, Wing Span and
others
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Airlines
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