John Chalmers

John Chalmers was born in Edmonton, still lives there, and earned B.Ed. and M.Ed. degrees from the University of Alberta. His career was spent in education as a teacher, consultant and administrator, and all his adult life has done freelance writing and photography. John became Historian for Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 2009, a part-time position in his retirement. His researches and writes the stories about the Hall’s inductees for the program book of the annual induction gala. He also scripts and produces the videos shown at the induction, writes the content for display panels of all those recognized by the Hall, and writes the annual updates to They Led The Way, the Hall’s book about inducted Members and recipients of the Belt of Orion Award for Excellence. John first wore air force blue in Air Cadets, then spent two years with RCAF 418 Auxiliary Squadron and graduated from the URTP program at the U of A with the rank of Pilot Officer. In 2008, he published Navigator Brothers, the story of his father and an uncle who both served as RCAF navigators during the Second World War. John and his wife, Linda, have two married daughters and four grandsons. John says, “The best part of my job is learning about the amazing individuals and organizations that are honoured by Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.”