Wing to Wing

Arch Haslett as a younger man was a marathon runner, swimmer, and snorkeller; he was a hiker and outdoorsman. Suddenly, struck down by a series of debilitating illnesses, Arch s life changes dramatically and becomes focused on healing.

He explores some unusual modalities over the years in his quest for healing. Some of these take him to faraway places, where often he finds just the person, place, or message he needs at the time.

Arch forms a wondrous attachment to a small orange and white puppy. He is supported in all his efforts to heal by his wife, Patty. Together, the two of them save his life.

This is a truly mystical tale of dealing with serious illness; of spiritual evolution; of never losing hope.
<BRIt is also a love story, written by this man who was so ill, about the woman who cared enough to stand by him to fly with him, wing to wing.

And, best of all, it is true.

Arch Haslett was born in Mimico, Ontario, in 1939. He attended Mimico High School, where he met his wife, Patty. After graduating from Trinity College, University of Toronto, he returned, in 1963, to Mimico High School to teach science.

In 1966, he and Patty moved to Europe for two years, where Arch taught children of the Canadian Armed Forces. They took their ten-month-old Lynne Catherine with them and returned with Josyane Janet, a ten-month-old sister for Lynne.

Arch then became head of the Physics Department at Alderwood Collegiate, and in 1983, head of Science at Lakeshore Collegiate. He coached cross-country running and track and field for seventeen years. He was a very active naturalist, outdoorsman, hiker, and competitive marathon runner.

In 1988, illness changed his life, ending his professional career. During the next twenty difficult years, Arch began to write poetry and prose, paint watercolours, and sell his photography.

For fourteen of these years, an extraordinary relationship developed between Arch and his life s only dog, Vincent van Gogh. Vincent and Patty saved his life.

Patty and Arch now spend their life in roughly equal portions between their condominium in Etobicoke, their log home on Sugar Lake, Orrville, Ontario (near Parry Sound), and travelling.