freelance n.
1. The freedom to poke cool
ideas with a sharp stick.
It baffles me that some freelancers don’t like to find their own
story ideas. Chasing down ideas and writing them up is great sport.
For
example, after Dorval International Airport metastasized into Montreal-Pierre
Elliot Trudeau International Airport, I wondered, “Who oversees the naming of
airports? Are there no laws?” The International Civil Aviation
Organization told me, “It’s a free-for-all.”
Intrigued, I pitched an airport
names article to one of my editors. “Why sure!” he said.
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The Havana Jose Marti International Airport is named after a great Hispanic writer |
I discovered
that airport names are portals into history. Often, like archeological
sites, names and the history they tag lie buried beneath successive
people and events. For example, an airport named
after aviation pioneer John Moisant in 1940 is now named after a legendary jazz
musician, giving us the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The Liverpool
airport was renamed in 2001 to honor John Lennon.
|
Some airports are named after musicians |
Great airport
names include Chuck Yeager (first person to break the sound
barrier), Jorge Chávez (first person to fly across the Alps), Sikorsky
(legendary helicopter designer), Chhatarpati Shivaji (founded a Hindu Kingdom),
Charles Darwin (penned the principles of natural selection) and Mother Teresa
(nun to the destitute).
Less desirable is the sycophantic
naming of airports after politicians. Some offend:
Ronald Reagan (Washington) fired 11,000 air traffic controllers. John
Diefenbaker (Saskatoon) destroyed
Canada’s Avro Arrow fighter jet program. I find the scurrying hypocrisy of the US Central
Command changing the Saddam International Airport to Bagdad International
Airport absolutely delicious. (The United States was once dictator
Hussain’s most powerful friend and generous benefactor.)
|
A name change begins the rewriting of history |
Editors prescribe some dizzyingly fun topics. "Wanna write about truck tire treads?" "Er, lovely, boss!" but regular doses of my own ideas is medicine I can take anytime.
Copyright © Carroll McCormick 2014
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