Des McGill (left) served TCA/Air Canada mainly as a technical illustrator. The first edition of the North Star book came with a huge fold-out in a pocket at the back of the book. This showed the North Star in detailed 5-view line drawings, done to perfection by Des. When McGraw-Hill Ryerson with permission from CANAV reprinted this book years later, they were too cheap to include Des' drawings. So … lucky is the bibliophile who has his first edition. On the right is Joe Matiasek, my sales rep at The Bryant Press, printer/binder of the first few CANAV titles. Bryant was a typical case of the tradition-bound book manufacturer unable 30 years ago to adapt, as computerization started to change printing at the speed of heat. After almost 100 years turning out top-grade Canadian books, Bryant folded over night in the early 1990s.
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