Author David Alan Arnold is an aerial cinematographer whose Emmy Awards for his work on DEADLIEST CATCH attest to his special gifts in capturing dramatic action from the vantage of the helicopter. In addition to this memoiresque volume HELP FROM ABOVE, this book serves as the initial installment in his Help From Above series that continues with WHAT LIES ABOVE THE CLOUDS. Highly respected by his colleagues as well as the viewing public, David also is committed to community service: his focus is fighting organized crime.
David opens his book with a dramatic tale of his experience with a near helicopter crash in Alaska while working on a NBC project: that degree of immediacy follows the reader through this excellent book relating his life and experiences from childhood (‘Mom says I’m “sensitive” Even at age five, I have difficulty accepting things that don’t bother anyone else’) and a vision of floating into the air at age three, to his adulthood fascination with flying - taking classes in a Florida junior college to his initial exposure to flying with aerial photographers from Wescam to his eventual status as a high tech cameraman in a ‘job’ that is both dangerous and rewarding.
With dramatic intensity tempered with a keen dollop of humor, David escorts us through a life that is a spectrum of ups and downs, gains and losses, and one of the more sensitive connections with the spirit. “I’ve spent my career careening through the sky, sometimes miles above the clouds, sometimes inches above the ocean, rocketing at a hundred miles an hour. Since mom died, I’ve done a lot of dangerous things, but I feel guided and protected at every turn. My pilots and I have gotten lost in blizzards, tumbled into the ocean, veered into deadly power lines. Yet each time I’ve been helped and protected by Mother Nature and the in forgiving laws of physics that have often killed my colleagues.’
Incidents in Peru, with NASA, the Bering Sea, relationships with the camera pilots, the various assorted films and reportage in which he has been a contributing photographer, highlights and moments of insight that span family, dog nurturing, natural disasters, single dad issues, his work on Deadliest Catch – the spectrum of highs and lows has rarely been expressed as well as in this enriching book. And in addition to his excellent prose, every moment is illuminated by color photographs of people, places and film locations that make the story ring.
By book’s end we have grown to know and respect David Alan Arnold, a unique man in touch with the meaning of being. His life thus far is the stuff of fine cinema and novels – and spiritual connection. Very Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, October 20
LJ
Grady Harp
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