The job of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is to provide detailed, sourced, authoritative biographical information on a vast array of Canadians. From time to time, it can also provide startlingly fresh and dramatic anecdotes. Like this example, from the closing paragraphs of its just-published essay on pioneer Quebec aviator Joseph-Hervé Saint-Martin (d.1939) by Pierre Thiffault:
Saint-Martin, whose prowess was acknowledged by his peers, had only one phobia: boarding a plane in which he would not be at the controls. He had built his career on the principle never to do so. Shortly before his death, however, Saint-Martin had taken up filming as a new hobby and was in the habit of bringing along his 8 mm camera wherever he went. The investigators found the broken apparatus in the remains of the aircraft and examined its contents, which enabled them to clarify the circumstances surrounding the accident. They discovered that the three men had come upon a herd of stampeding caribou and filmed them at such a close range that the bristling hairs on their backs were distinctly visible. Excited by the idea of capturing extraordinary footage, Saint-Martin had handed over the controls to Therrien. As they approached, Therrien tipped the plane sideways so that the cameraman would have a better view. Saint-Martin was too preoccupied to realize that his apprentice pilot, through lack of experience, was trying to hold the plane in an impossible position. The last frame showed the plane diving suddenly towards the ground.
