- Hardcover: 206 pages
- Publisher: Melrose Books (15 May 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1906050309
- ISBN-13: 978-1906050306
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.2 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,110,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
After responding to a newspaper advert offering Hot Air Balloon Flights over the Yorkshire Dales, school principal Jon Brownridge had one of the most exhilarating experiences of his life. So much so that on returning to Canada he embarked on an event-filled training programme and with the help of a super-cool instructor he soon became a qualified balloon pilot with plans of his own. Over a ten-year period the author owned and operated a company called Skylark Balloons, specialising in Romantic Flights for Two . In his life as a balloon pilot, he experienced some of the most hilarious and incredible happenings imaginable. He witnessed marriage proposals, consoled jilted suitors, assisted with the scattering of ashes and dealt with some very bizarre requests indeed. A Skylark in Blue Yonder is a humorous, anecdotal account of the author s hair-raising and sometimes poignant experiences as a balloonist, and the warm but comical human contact he found with passengers, crew, and land owners in the world of hot air ballooning. The author makes his book understandable with vivid and amusing detail and it is interesting and enjoyable for balloonists and non-balloonists alike. Readers who might be reluctant to take to the skies can still fly in spirit, and experience the thrill of hot air ballooning through Jon Brownridge s amusing and entertaining book.
About the Author
Jon Brownridge was born in Leeds, England. His early life, schooling, and upbringing took place in that city, but he was privileged to receive a high quality secondary education at Cheswardine Hall, Shropshire. Here he found not only an opportunity for academic excellence, but a love of adventure, achievement and independence. Jon Brownridge qualified as a secondary school teacher through the University of London Institute of Education and, after teaching in England for five years he accepted a teaching position in Toronto, Canada. Through the University of Toronto he earned an M.Ed. and then a Doctorate in the Philosophy of Education. The final fifteen years of his career in education were spent as a school principal in three different Toronto schools. Unusual, exhilarating sports have always been a passion for Jon. As an avid horseman, he has owned several horses and still trains and rides his own Appaloosa mare today. He obtained first his micro-light aeroplane pilot s licence and later a balloon pilot s licence with instructor rating. A Skylark in Blue Yonder results directly from his amazing experiences as a balloonist. Jon Brownridge lives with his wife in Southern Ontario, Canada. With his daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren close by, he is kept constantly busy, but continues to write as time permits. His next book, Shadows of the Skylark, is a work now in progress.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a really enjoyable book, a light page-turner which ever-so gently enfolds you in the ups and downs(!) of learning and flying a hot-air balloon. Gradually you become involved with the characters, and relive their adventures with some very unusual passengers and some quite eccentric farmers. A chronological collections of short stories, the book educates, amuses, and engrosses the reader in a hobby few of us would dare to pursue. There are one or two "belly-laugh" moments, and by the end we find ourselves totally at one with the characters and completely saddened at the fate of one of them. The book leaves us wishing the story would continue (is another volume in the works?). Jon Brownridge writes with a light, easy style, and his dry sense of humour makes "Skylark in Blue Yonder" an extremely entertaining read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a delightful, light-hearted book with many funny anecdotes but still conveying the serious business of what it takes to float high above the ground. The book creates interesting characters and rises to a climax leaving the reader wanting a sequel. Mr Brownridge convinces the reader that ballooning is an incomparable experience and, failing an actual flight, reading about it is also great fun.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've never been in a hot-air balloon but after reading Jon Brownridge's 'A Skylark in Blue Yonder' I feel I have; several times, all exhilarating, some hilarious and for a fraction of the flight price. I imagine the best moments in a balloon trip are when the noise of the burners ceases and, to paraphrase the words of the author (p172), you are floating high in peaceful tranquillity, lost in soul-soothing adventure awed by nature's silent beauty. This feeling is brought gently down to earth (sometimes bumpily) as the author recounts in rich, understated anecdote how his interest in ballooning started with a chance flight in the Yorkshire Dales and grew into a fascinating venture in Canada. If you are looking for a good laugh, a compelling narrative, the company of gentle folk then you will enjoy 'Skylark'. You will also become something of a technical expert: terms like 'feathering the burner, cold inflation, drag landing ..' lose their mystery as you are taken up, up and away.
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