Dr. Forrest Bird & Pamela Bird
There are those moments in your life that stand out as Magical Moments. Those moments that change your life, or change your attitude about life. Well this past weekend we experienced one of those Magical Moments.
We drove over to Sagle, Idaho near Sandpoint on the beautiful Lake Pend Oreille to meet and interview the famous inventor and aviator, Dr. Forrest Bird. I first met Dr. Bird during the red carpet interviews for the Legends of Aviation ceremony in Beverly Hills last January.
We were met by the very attractive and enthusiastic Pamela Riddle Bird, a nationally known author and expert on Inventions and Innovation. Pamela has a Phd of her own, too. She is the founder and CEO of Innovation Product Technologies. Pamela graciously led us into the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center where a speech was underway by the daughter and wife of the inventor of Gatorade.
The museum was awesome. Tons of fantastic airplanes and automobiles and tons of great historical displays. After we had a chance to go completely through the museum, we followed Pamela over to the Air Lodge, a unique private lodge that the Birds have created to accomodate physicians and other visitors who come from all across the world to meet and learn from Dr. Bird.
Pamela told us to settle into our rooms. I got the John Wayne room and Bill and his daughter got the Lewis and Clark room. Each room is decorated with different themes. John Wayne is a true hero to me, so I was in heaven in the Duke Room.
After settling into our rooms, we met with the Birds and some other guests for a nice dinner. I got to spend some quality time talking with Dr. Forrest Bird about his love for aviation. Forrest is one of the five first pilots of helicopters in the world and he said he is the last one left of that first group.
I met with Dr. Forrest Bird for our interview the next morning. The interview lasted from 9am to 5pm. It was a remarkable experience for me.
Dr. Forrest Bird is not only a world recognized aviator, but more importantly he is the inventor of the respirator and ventilator and other medical devices. These inventions have saved possibly a million or ten million, and possibly over 100 million lives! Think about it. The infant mortality rate for pre-me births was 70 percent. His devices reduced that rate to less than 10 percent. His devices have also had tremendous impact on the success of anethesia and the ability to ventilate while doing operations like open heart surgery, and to keep people in comas alive all across the world.
I really enjoyed my interview with Forrest. He has an unbelievable photographic type of memory. He talked about his memories of meeting Orville Wright, Henry Ford, some Presidents, and even Howard Hughes. He explained how he came up with his revolutionary ideas. He kept saying that life is "fate, chance and circumstance." I think that will be the title of our movie on Forrest Bird.
After my interview with Forrest, I was able to interview Pamela for about an hour. She did a super job in her interview, explaining how she met Forrest and how they became a couple. They are a truly wonderful couple who love each other very much. They have many things in common including love for aviation and invention.
I just took a look at some of the interview footage and it turned out great. I can't wait to start putting this movie together.