Resource World Magazine

28 www.resourceworld.com O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 BIOGRAPHY S ince 2003 Resource World magazine has been fortunate to have Dr. Edward Schiller as a Contributing Editor. Although now slowing down, his endless energy prompted his colleagues to nick-name him "Fast Eddie" as he just never stopped. Schiller has more than a trunk-full of memories having worked in mineral exploration on every continent except Antarctica and can now look back on a life of adventure and discovery. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1934, young Ed was uncertain about a career until a fellow student hockey player encouraged him to study geology. Being a talented athlete (goalie), Ed had earned an athletic scholarship to Michigan State University where he graduated with Bachelor and Master's degrees in geology fol - lowed by a Ph.D. in mineralogy at the University of Utah in 1963. In the summer of 1956, while Ed was a student working for the Geological Survey of Canada's Operation Stikine in northwest British Columbia, his mapping crew accidently stumbled upon the wreckage of Bomber 075, a US Air Force intercontinental bomber that had been carrying an atomic bomb from Alaska to Texas in February 1950. Oddly named the "Peacemaker", three of the six engines caught on fire somewhere near Princess Royal Island. The bomber lost altitude and dropped its nuclear bomb into the Pacific Ocean. After the crew bailed out, the plane supposedly headed out to sea on its own to crash into the ocean. Instead, it was found in the mountains of northwest BC – still a mystery. Five of the 17 crew members died. Those interested in this incredible tale can read Lost Nuke – The Last Flight of Bomber 075 by Dirk Septer. In November 2016, The Vancouver Sun reported that a diver had found the nuclear bomb off Pitt Island near Haida Gwaii. After graduating with his Master's degree, Ed married Shirley and they had two girls – Julie and Gretchen. During his exten - sive career in geology, Ed explored in Canada, the United States, England, Greece, East Asian countries, Russia, China, and almost every country in Africa and South America. He worked in Brazil for five years, three years in Colombia, for the United Nations in Mozambique and Greece and visited Madagascar several times for precious metals projects. "I became an avid mineral collector," said Schiller. "Upon returning to my home base, my wife would say, 'No more mineral specimens to unpack and repack!' as we moved not from country to country but from conti - nent to continent." "In Indonesia, I did a bauxite study for Superior Oil and spent a few days in a hotel on an island in Iran Jaya that General MacArthur was camped at prior to his attack Ed Schiller, in foreground, picking grapes for ice wine at -10 C at 6 am with friends Ron Pidsklany and Jen Jontz in Ed's Vineyard in Kelowna, British Columbia. Photo courtesy Edward Schiller. Dr. Edward Schiller– a life of discovery How many geologists can claim to have drilled into Canada's first diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe or to have stumbled upon a crashed intercontinental bomber that had been carrying an atomic bomb? by Ellsworth Dickson

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