Before tape recording came into general use in radio, it was the spoken word, read from a script—rather than tape and commentary—that described people, places, and events for listeners. And Sallie Phillips had a voice that could "really take it off the page!"

A freelance broadcaster and pioneering career woman in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Sallie broadcast over the CBC and most of Vancouver's other radio stations. Her richly detailed and varied programs were enjoyed locally, nationally, and internationally. She travelled widely and profiled pioneers of British Columbia's Interior, as well as women making homes in floating communities along the rugged coast. Closer to home, she explored everything from the local fish cannery to the arts scene in Vancouver. She even shared the never-mundane details of daily life in the Phillips family.

You're on the Air is a selection of Sallie Phillips's radio scripts, a charming and fascinating record of life in Canada, and specifically British Columbia, at mid-century. Sallie's voice is just as engaging on the page as it once was over the airwaves. Each script offers a privileged glimpse of a time and place that is strikingly different from—and occasionally surprisingly similar to—our own.

Regional History/Women's Studies, 214 pp, 6 x 9
ISBN 1-55039-104-6, paper, $21.95