It is not often a Millionaire is willing to divulge the methods he used to become wealthy, but Ed Reierson wrote a 283-page book explaining in detail how he did it.  The book title is “THE THRILL OF THE DEAL” with a sub title “How this Logger made a Million in the Bush” This book is available in the Piccadilly Mall, Salmon Arm and we are sure you will find the information fascinating.
    Ed Reierson was born in Slave Lake, Alberta, in 1936. His dad was a Jack-of-all-trades and moved around a lot, doing mostly carpentry to earn a living for himself and his family.  At age 15 Ed, and his brother Roy, finished their education at Grade VIII   and launched themselves into the world of labor -- and they did work very hard indeed, which is one of the prime lessons one learns from his life.  He wasn’t born a Millionaire -- he earned every cent of his wealth through logging, farming, or land speculation.  He would buy property suitable for logging. Once those trees were removed he would sell the land and use the profits to purchase another logging property.                                                           

The book was written by Ed himself, but when he gave it to others to edit, he was unhappy with the result. His wife, Vickie, then took on the job, and as she says, other than editing out all the “ands” and other useless connecting words, she typed it as Ed wrote it.

Logging required Ed move to many places including Quesnel, Prince George, Clearwater, Vernon, Enderby and Kelowna. He finally settled, however, in a lovely spot about 10 miles south of Salmon Arm where he built a remarkably beautiful two-story log home.  You have to read the book for details on how he built it, but this writer was given a tour through this home and it is very impressive indeed. The huge stone fireplace is made of rocks found on his property.  The logs are perfectly shaped and fit the structure exactly.  An adjacent building houses a number of beautiful cars that are Collector’s items -- anyone over the age of 60 will remember when cars like these were brand new, and these cars all are in perfect condition and bring back many happy memories.
     Ed says, “I’ve learned a lot of things in my life.  I didn’t head into life with much confidence or self-esteem but I have learned along the way.  Sometimes I was bull headed or defensive and took longer to learn something than I should have -- other times I picked things up real quick and over time, I’ve learned to learn from others.  You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure things out.  You just need confidence which comes from doing things yourself”.  As he says in the last paragraph in the book, “”Life is what you make it.  I have had ventures and lots of love, and I still take life as it comes and make the best I can of it.”

  by Kevan van Herd