Hardcover First Edition Balls! by Richard Rohmer, 1979
Hardcover First Edition Balls! by Richard Rohmer printed in 1979 centers on the energy crisis in Canada with the balls referring to the natural gas ships. Rohmer was one of my favourite authors when I was young.
Richard Heath Rohmer OC CMM OOnt DFC CD QC (born 24 January 1924) is a Canadian aviator, lawyer, adviser, author and historian.
Rohmer was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and spent some of his early youth in Pasadena, California, as well as in western Ontario at Windsor and Fort Erie. The Peterborough Examiner's lead editorial of 14 January 2009 describes Rohmer as "one of Canada's most colourful figures of the past half-century". General Rohmer is the honorary advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces. He is the advisor to the Minister of Veterans Affairs for the organization and conduct of Canada's celebration of the 70th Anniversary of D-Day celebrations in Normandy in June 2014 and the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Holland in May 2015. He is currently believed to be the senior surviving Canadian Veteran of D-Day, the Battle of Normandy and the Liberation of Holland.
Two of Rohmer's better-known novels are Ultimatum and Separation. Ultimatum, published in 1973, features political, economic, and energy crisis themes as well as the author's opinion about the viability of the Canadian nation. It is Rohmer's most popular novel and it was the best-selling novel in Canada in 1973. Three years later, Rohmer published Separation, a novel with domestic and international political themes surrounding the ambition of Quebec separatists to establish the Canadian province as a separate nation. It stayed on the Toronto Star's best-seller list for 22 weeks. Separation was made into a television movie in 1977, and aired on the CTV network. Barry Morse was cast for a brief appearance as the British prime minister.
Rohmer chaired the Royal Commission on Book Publishing in 1971/72. He is a known Canadian author of both fiction and non-fiction; throughout his literary career he has published over thirty books. His most recent non-fiction is The Building of the CN Tower published 2011 by RailCore Press Inc. of which he is president. His most recent novel, Ultimatum 2 was published early 2007. It fictionalizes a confrontation between the US and Russia against Canada over the building of an international high level nuclear waste disposal site in Arctic Canada. The second edition of his historical novel on the 1866/67 Canadian negotiations with the British for autonomy under the British North American Act is Sir John A's Crusade and Seward's Magnificent Folly.
