Wheeler's Wake

About the Book

In Wheeler’s Little’s early days, at the beginning of in the last century, radio was the technological wonder of the age. Crystal sets were to Wheeler’s generation what computers are to today’s young people. Programs were listened to, not downloaded from the Internet. Wheeler’s story is that of a man was captivated first by radio, then by television. It takes readers on a journey from the study of electrical engineering at university in the twenties, to the golden age of radio in the thirties, through the shortwave transmissions of the Second World War in the forties and finally to the introduction of TV in the fifties. It is also the story of a man who stayed loyal to a woman who battled mental illness all of her married life. This loyalty provided much needed stability for the author, their only child. Andrew Clyde Little later fashioned a successful career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, using the technology his father helped to develop. Unfortunately, Wheeler didn’t live to see this happen, but he would have taken pride in how closely his son followed in his wake.

About the Author

Willis Clayton Little (nicknamed Wheeler) was my father. Born in 1905, he became fascinated with early radio as a teen, studied electrical engineering at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada (1925-1930). He began his career in 1932 with radio station CKLW in Windsor, joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1937. He was involved in the establisment of the CBC radio network, was loaned to National Research Council in Ottawa (1941-44) for work on radar. He returned to the CBC to help design Radio Canada International, a shortwave service for Canadian troops fighting in Europe. After the war was part of the CBC's engineering team that brought Canadians their own television service. He died in 1955 when I was 18. I joined the CBC in 1959 and worked for 31 years for the same corporation, first in radio as an editor in the International Service Newsroom, later as a television reporter and producer in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. I was following in my father's wake, using the technology he refined. Since he died before I married, my wife never met Wheeler nor did any of my children or grandchildren. This biographical novel will introduce them to a remarkable man, my father. I retired from the CBC in 1991, taught television news reporting at Carleton University and eventually enrolled in the MA program at Carleton. I graduated with honors in 1999 and since then have been writing full time. I am the author of four published books - On the Road Again . . . Again (2001 Penumbra Press), Before Whispers Become Silence, (2003 Penumbra Press), Time Exposures (2005) Trafford Press and A Way With Words, One Writer's Journey (2007 Trafford Press). We currently divide our year equally between Ottawa, Ontario and Anna Maria Island, Florida. My days are spent writing and gardening, with breaks to walk my Jack Russell terrier.