Dave Paddon hails from the town North West River in central Labrador. He descends from two generations of pioneer doctors and nurses who travelled the Labrador coast by dog team in the winter and auxiliary ketch in the summer, providing medical services and building the social infrastructure that was much-needed at the time.
Perhaps in a spirit of rebelliousness, Dave chose aviation over medicine and flew fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters over the same territory in the late seventies and early eighties. He flew with Air Canada for several years and is now retired.
Dave is a great storyteller and well known throughout the province for his recitations. He wrote his first recitation in 2007 and has now written forty. Five of these have been published in handmade chapbooks and his work is available on two CDs or through electronic download. His recitations, Ralph: Flying Hound and Kimmy and Mike were recently released as illustrated children’s books. He also released a collection of thirteen tall tales in a book entitled, Half the lies you tell me are not true!
Dave currently lives in St. John's with his wife Kim.
Dave is knowledgeable about the geography and history of coastal Labrador from his years of bush flying in the area; he has a particular enthusiasm for the Torngat Mountains. His grandparents operated a small hospital on the coast, and he enjoys relating the history of that institution as well as the incredible hardship of dog team medical patrols—which could last for weeks and covered thousands of miles. He is extremely fortunate in that he has a large volume of family correspondence covering the years 1912–1982.