Canada’s Aviation Hall
of Fame has declared John Gillespie Magee Jr. as its Honorary Poet.
Magee was a 19-year old
Spitfire pilot serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force when he wrote
his famous sonnet, “High Flight,” which has become a symbol of lost
aircrew in both peace and war.
The official
announcement of Magee as Honorary Poet will be made at the 2017
induction dinner and ceremonies to be held at the Vancouver
International Airport on June 15. Guest presenter and speaker will
be Her Honour Judith Guichon, Lieutenant Governor of British
Columbia. Four new members of the Hall will be inducted.
Born in
Shanghai, China to missionary parents, John G. Magee Jr.
attended Rugby School in England where he first
distinguished himself as a poet. Later, continuing his
education in the United States, Magee earned a
scholarship to Yale University. However, in 1941, before
the United States entered the Second World War, instead
of attending university, he enlisted in the RCAF and
trained as a pilot in Canada, graduating with the rank
of Pilot Officer.
Posted to
England and qualifying as a Spitfire fighter pilot,
Magee wrote “High Flight” after completing a training
flight. The poem was mailed to his parents, first
printed in a Pittsburgh newspaper, and became widely
known after publication in his father’s Washington D.C.
church bulletin. On December 11, 1941,
Magee was
killed in a mid-air collision with another trainee pilot
in England. |
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John
Gillespie Magee Jr |
Magee was the
eldest of four sons born to his American father and English mother.
He is survived by one brother, The
Reverend Canon F. Hugh Magee
in Scotland who like the boys’ father, served in the ministry.
Rev. Magee has
thanked Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame for the recognition bestowed
upon his brother, and has stated, “I am very pleased to express, on
behalf of the entire Magee family, our gratification that the life
of our John is being recognized and honoured as Honorary Poet of
Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame. John combined two abilities that are
not always found together: how many Spitfires do we know of that
have been flown by poets? Your fitting tribute embraces both of
these aspects of John’s short life in a most appropriate and
distinctive manner.”
Linda
Granfield, biographer of
John Gillespie Magee Jr. with her book, High Flight, A Story of
World War II, says, “It is both touching and appropriate that the
life and words of Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Jr., a young
pilot and poet of promise, will be enshrined at Canada's Aviation
Hall of Fame and remembered by generations to come.”
Dinner
committee chairman, retired RCAF
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Matthews,
said, “We are pleased that Lieutenant Governor Guichon will be
inducting two Members with strong BC connections: Danny Sitnam is
founder of Helijet International Inc., based at the Vancouver
International Airport, while Rogers Smith, one of the world’s top
test pilots, was born in Dawson Creek. As well, we are fortunate to
have both Vancouver International Airport and NAV CANADA as Platinum
Sponsors for this gala event.”
Other Members to be
inducted are Erroll Boyd (1891-1960), who in 1930 was the first
Canadian to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and Robert Deluce,
President and CEO of Porter Airlines, based at Billy Bishop Toronto
City Airport. The former aerobatic team of the RCAF, the Golden
Hawks, will receive the Belt of Orion Award for Excellence. |