Historic Gray Creek Store is Latest Outlet to Sell “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters VC“

October 31, 2013

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by Sam McBride

 

I am very pleased to announce that copies of “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars“ are now available for purchase at the Gray Creek Store, which this year is celebrating 100 years of continuous operation by the Lymbery family.

In 1913 Art Lymbery, father of the current proprietor and local history authority Tom Lymbery, founded the store in 1913 at Gray Creek on the east shore of Kootenay Lake in southeastern British Columbia.   That was the same year that Fritz Peters retired from his first stint of service with the Royal Navy, and began employment as a third engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway in the B.C. interior, including service on the Kootenay Lake sternwheelers.

The store is one of the oldest family-owned and operated businesses in the province.   Tom, who has been active in the B.C. Historical Society for years,  reviewed “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters VC“ in the October 2013 edition of the East Shore Mainstreet publication.   Many thanks go to Tom and the staff at the store for supporting the book.

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Memorable Images from Maritimes Book Tour

October 19, 2013

thebravestcanadian Bookmark, Charlottetown, Cunard, Frederic Thornton Peters, Indigo, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Maritimes, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Operation Reservist, Operation Torch, Peters, Prince Edward Island, Royal Navy, Saint John, The Bravest Canadian, Uncategorized, Victoria Cross Leave a comment

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Magnificent Cape Breton coast

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Enchanting covered bridge in New Brunswick

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The author signing books at Indigo East Point in Saint John (photo taken by Kathy Wilson of the New Brunswick Historical Society, who came by to chat and bought copies of the book as gifts)

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With help from the PEI Genealogical Society, we were able to find the tombstone of Fritz`s grandfather, the Father of Confederation Col. John Hamilton Gray, at Sherwood Cemetery near Charlottetown Airport.

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Next to the Col. Gray tombstone was one for his daughter Rosie, who died at age 4 in 1874.

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Spectacular pumpkin farm between Fredericton and Alma, NB.

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Legislature at Province House in Charlottetown, where Fritz`s father Frederick Peters and uncle Arthur Peters served as premier and attorney general

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Meeting room in Province House where Col. Gray and other Fathers of Confederation met in September 1864 during historic Charlottetown Conference.

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Views of the extensive collection of models and memorabilia of Fritz`s great-grandfather Sir Samuel Cunard at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

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McBride doing a slide presentation on the Fritz Peters story at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

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sam at fredericton on phone

Author McBride doing interview with CBC radio reporter while signing books at the Chapters Fredericton

Maritimes Book Tour Generates Surge of Interest in the Story of War Hero Fritz Peters

October 12, 2013

thebravestcanadian Bookmark, Charlottetown, Cunard, Frederic Thornton Peters, Indigo, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Maritimes, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Oran, Peters, Prince Edward Island, Royal Navy, Saint John, The Bravest Canadian, Victoria Cross, war heroes Leave a comment

by Sam McBride

My two-week book tour through the three Canadian Maritime provinces was a wonderful experience, and exceeded all expectations in publicizing “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars“ throughout New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as well as Prince Edward Island, where Fritz was born and his story is best known.

It was a thrill to meet so many people who came by my book signing sessions and either bought copies of the book or expressed interest in Fritz and the book.  These included several current members of the Canadian military, as well as relatives who told me about the heroes of their own family.

I particularly enjoyed meeting several third cousins for the first time, as well as leaders of the PEI Genealogical Society, the New Brunswick Historical Society and the Cunard Steamship Society who I have corresponded with extensively in the past, but not met in person.   Extremely pleased that my enthusiastic supporter in St. John`s, Newfoundland, Dr. David Peters,  came to my presentation at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and we had a good chat afterwards.

Several people I talked to noted that next year, 2014, will be present opportunities to raise awareness of the Fritz Peters story across Canada. These are 1) the 150th anniversary of the historic Charlottetown Conference, in which Fritz`s family had a central role; 2) the centennial of the start of World War One, where Fritz Peters earned three major honours for valour; and 3) the 75th anniversary of the start of World War Two, where Fritz again received three awards for valour, including the Victoria Cross and the highest medal of the United States.

I have attached scans of a sample of print publicity from the book tour, and the links below have some, but not all, of the TV, radio and social media coverage.  I did about 10 interviews by phone before i travelled, and then about another dozen while in the Maritimes between September 24th and October 5th, 2013.

 

http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1013315&binId=1.1145463&playlistPageNum=1

http://thechronicleherald.ca/book/event/1154374-the-bravest-canadian-fritz-peters-the-making-of-a-hero-of-two-world-wars-by-sam-m

https://www.facebook.com/myWaterfront

http://www.armyrats.com/posts/tag/battalion/

http://www.news957.com/category/listen/rick-howe-show/page/2/

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Maritimes/ID/2408922242/

https://twitter.com/ns_mma

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front page of Moncton newspaper, with long story on inside pages

 

 

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from PEI events BUZZ

 

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one of many newspaper listings publicizing the book tour events

 

Book Signings Going Well in PEI, NB and NS

October 4, 2013

thebravestcanadian Charlottetown, Cunard, Frederic Thornton Peters, Indigo, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Maritimes, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Operation Torch, Oran, Peters, Prince Edward Island, Robert Gray, Royal Navy, Saint John, The Bravest Canadian, Victoria Cross Leave a comment

Our book tour for “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars” has generated a flood of publicity in the newspapers and broadcast media, including several stations of CTV and CBC in the three provinces.  Most of the people who bought books at the book signing sessions said they saw or heard about Fritz Peters in a recent media story.

The tour is winding down, but I am looking forward to returning to Prince Edward Island for a booksigning at the Indigo Charlottetown on Oct. 5 from 11 am until noon, and also meeting with representatives of the PEI Genealogical Society.  With the 150th anniversary of the historic Charlottetown Conference coming up in 2014, there is a great amount of interest in Fritz’s grandfather (and my great-great-grandfather) Col. John Hamilton Gray, who was head of the PEI government in 1864 and served as host and chairman of the conference.  On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 3, 1864 Gray invited the Fathers of Confederation home to his residence known as Inkerman House (named after his father-in-law’s famous victory in the Crimean War) for an after-dinner party, where much liquor was consumed and the conference delegates got to know each other on a social basis.  As they arrived, they were introduced to Gray’s family, including two-year-old Bertha, Fritz’s mother.  Later in life, Bertha introduced herself to new acquaintances as “a Daughter of Confederation.”

My presentation at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic was well-received by about 20 interested attendees who came out for the event despite heavy rain in Halifax.  I had not been to the museum since 1992, and was greatly impressed with his improvements, including a wonderful section on Fritz’s grandfather Sir Samuel Cunard.

 

 

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