Growing Up in the Oil Patch chronicles the adventures and achievements of some of the most colourful, ambitious people of their time: statesmen, scoundrels, visionaries and developers. Participants all in the growing oil patch!

The author presents a highly readable, informative and entertaining account of the early years in the development of Canada’s gas and oil industry. Based upon five years of research, interviews, and his fortuitous discovery of a rare, historically important scribbler, John Schmidt traces the paths of two enterprising American-born drillers, "Frosty" Martin and "Tiny" Phillips, whose drive and ingenuity were encouraged by British and Canadian promoters and financiers. Their entrepreneurial spirit took them initially to Leamington, Ontario, and ultimately into the heart of the oil patch in Western Canada.

A larger than life character in the truest sense, John Schmidt's trademark is in speaking his mind fully and sincerely. During most of his newspaper career, Schmidt has been a columnist, first with the Ayr News, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, the Calgary Herald, and for 28 years turned out a five-day-a-week agricultural column, without missing a deadline.

John Schmidt's profile page