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Living Up to a Legend: My Adventures with Billy Bishop's Ghost
Diana Bishop recounts growing up in the shadow of her famous grandfather, Canadian First World War flying ace Billy Bishop.
As a child, Diana Bishop showed up one day at school with a brown paper bag. Inside was a large breastplate of some of the most precious war medals on the planet, including the Victoria Cross. They belonged to Canada’s most celebrated First World War pilot, Billy Bishop, and until her family donated them to the Canadian War Museum, they had been kept in her father’s underwear drawer. That day at school was the first time Diana realized she was not growing up in an ordinary family.
Now, after more than two decades in Canadian media, Diana Bishop looks back on her grandfather’s legacy and its profound influence over her life, and also her father’s — the only son of Billy Bishop, who had so much to live up to. Living Up to a Legend is a unique memoir that covers Billy Bishop’s legacy through the eyes of one of the people who it affected the most.
As a child, Diana Bishop showed up one day at school with a brown paper bag. Inside was a large breastplate of some of the most precious war medals on the planet, including the Victoria Cross. They belonged to Canada’s most celebrated First World War pilot, Billy Bishop, and until her family donated them to the Canadian War Museum, they had been kept in her father’s underwear drawer. That day at school was the first time Diana realized she was not growing up in an ordinary family.
Now, after more than two decades in Canadian media, Diana Bishop looks back on her grandfather’s legacy and its profound influence over her life, and also her father’s — the only son of Billy Bishop, who had so much to live up to. Living Up to a Legend is a unique memoir that covers Billy Bishop’s legacy through the eyes of one of the people who it affected the most.
- GenresMemoirAutobiography
216 pages, ebook
Published February 25, 2017
2 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 28, 2020
"Living Up to a Legend: My Adventures with Billy Bishop's Ghost" is the author's honest, raw, and poignant story of being part of a family defined by the bravery, example, and legacy of her grandfather, Billy Bishop, one of Canada's greatest heroes and a top World War I fighter ace. The book also looks back on the impact that legacy had on the author's father, himself a fighter pilot who flew Spitfires in combat with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during World War II - "who had so much to live up to" -- as well as the author herself.
You won't have a dry eye after reading "Living Up to a Legend." I highly recommend it.
You won't have a dry eye after reading "Living Up to a Legend." I highly recommend it.
December 19, 2016
I've never before considered how hard it might be to live up to a famous ancestor, especially one fairly close in chronology. After this, I'm rather glad that any famous ancestors of mine are from so long ago that their ghosts are well and truly dead!
And yet, this is also a tale of redemption - that even all those sins of omission or commission - can be forgiven in the end.
Fascinating anecdotes about the life and times of the Bishops.
And yet, this is also a tale of redemption - that even all those sins of omission or commission - can be forgiven in the end.
Fascinating anecdotes about the life and times of the Bishops.
February 10, 2017
Reading a book written by your best friend, is of course a different experience than for most who turn these pages. Firstly, I am filled with unbridled pride that she has written it! Secondly, since it is her memoir, I have gone on much of the journey with her. To be honest, it is also humbling to actually be a character in this revealing tale.
Diana has always had the knack of telling a story, but this is her best! The reader will be highly entertained by amusing stories of the famous master of the skies, Billy Bishop and the trials and tribulations of her delightful and most interesting family. It is however, Diana's journey of self-discovery that will resonate. This is a must read for anyone who is courageous enough to really look in the mirror and learn from what they see!
Diana has always had the knack of telling a story, but this is her best! The reader will be highly entertained by amusing stories of the famous master of the skies, Billy Bishop and the trials and tribulations of her delightful and most interesting family. It is however, Diana's journey of self-discovery that will resonate. This is a must read for anyone who is courageous enough to really look in the mirror and learn from what they see!
February 21, 2017
Wonderful Book Diana!
I loved all the stories, especially the ketchup on the French fries. I can relate to that.
Your dad, my Uncle Arthur, was a high-spirited man.
One may not consider courage as a legacy. But I think otherwise.
Thank you for expressing your thoughts so beautifully.
Love always,
Catherine (Twink) Willis-O’Connor
Granddaughter of Billy Bishop
I loved all the stories, especially the ketchup on the French fries. I can relate to that.
Your dad, my Uncle Arthur, was a high-spirited man.
One may not consider courage as a legacy. But I think otherwise.
Thank you for expressing your thoughts so beautifully.
Love always,
Catherine (Twink) Willis-O’Connor
Granddaughter of Billy Bishop
April 11, 2017
This story showed incredible courage, insight, and strength. I loved Diana’s ability to show her vulnerability, and the questioning of parenting, regardless that her parents were famous or not. Coming to terms with the past and our feelings for one another is a lesson not lost on me. I really enjoyed the journey that Diana and her father took in his later years. Men tend to write books about the battle, and women write about the battle scars. Well done! Heartfelt and insightful!
March 2, 2017
Diana out did herself in writing this book.
It is a must read for anyone who has had a family member that suffers from PTSD!
Diana deals opens up about what it was like to be the Grand daughter of WWI Ace Billy Bishop and to be the daughter of the famous Canadian Military Historian William Arthur Bishop. She speaks about her experiences in a candid yet sensitive fashion.
Diana's father, was a hero as many men of his generation were. We want our heroes to be perfect, but the fact is it is better if they are not. All great true heroes are imperfect and have weakness, but that is okay for it inspires us average "Joes", because now we can better identify with them and perhaps learn from their mistakes.
Thomas Pratt
It is a must read for anyone who has had a family member that suffers from PTSD!
Diana deals opens up about what it was like to be the Grand daughter of WWI Ace Billy Bishop and to be the daughter of the famous Canadian Military Historian William Arthur Bishop. She speaks about her experiences in a candid yet sensitive fashion.
Diana's father, was a hero as many men of his generation were. We want our heroes to be perfect, but the fact is it is better if they are not. All great true heroes are imperfect and have weakness, but that is okay for it inspires us average "Joes", because now we can better identify with them and perhaps learn from their mistakes.
Thomas Pratt
May 24, 2018
In spite of the title, the book is really more about the author's relationship with her father, who was the only son of Billy Bishop, Canadian war hero and flying ace of WWI. He was the one who was in Billy Bishop's shadow, and it no doubt affected his upbringing and personality. He became an alcoholic, and his wife a long-suffering 50s housewife. This was the household in which the author grew up.
May 14, 2019
3 1/2 stars
July 16, 2020
Memoirs of a social climbing, name dropping daughter of an abusive father and granddaughter of a hero with a controversial war record. I was disappointed.
March 25, 2017
Living Up to a Legend is written by the granddaughter of Canadian WWI ace Billy Bishop. It is filled with reminisces of a time when her parents (Billy's only son Arthur and his wife Priscilla)threw parties with lots of alcohol, whether at home in Toronto or at the family cottage in the Muskokas (Arthur would nail a huge picture of a martini glass to a hydro pole when they had arrived) and while Diana's grandparents had money (she was related to the Eaton's), Diana's family only had just enough to get by. Most revealing is her relationship with her father in his final years when she reluctantly puts him in a senior's home and deals with his increasing dementia while trying to live her own life. With black & white family photos filling out the account, Living Up to a Legend is definitely a worthy read, particularly so for the uncommon circumstances the author was raised under, and how she eventually became her own successful person, coming to terms with both Billy's ghost and Arthur's conflicted form of fatherhood. Diana also discusses her battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, an affliction that severely impacted her career as a journalist. A slice of family life growing up famous in Toronto in the 50's and 60's.
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March 14, 2017My first comment on this book was truncated, so here is my full comment:
"Most of us grew up with Grandfathers, Fathers and Uncles who had witnessed war first hand, who at a young age acknowledged that something had deeply affected them. Although it was seldom mentioned. Some wore the badge loosely, while others became different people all together. Our families were no exception, back then it was life. Tolerated because while we did not understand, we understood how deep the trauma must have been.
Diana Bishop’s memoir will provide a window for next generations to understand what home life could have been after war, and yes, what it was like living under the shadow of two war hero’s. In my book, like Diana, I believe any person who goes to war on our behalf is a hero."
It has been a few weeks now after I have read the book and I now realized that some of my relatives must have been addicts....hmmmm
"Most of us grew up with Grandfathers, Fathers and Uncles who had witnessed war first hand, who at a young age acknowledged that something had deeply affected them. Although it was seldom mentioned. Some wore the badge loosely, while others became different people all together. Our families were no exception, back then it was life. Tolerated because while we did not understand, we understood how deep the trauma must have been.
Diana Bishop’s memoir will provide a window for next generations to understand what home life could have been after war, and yes, what it was like living under the shadow of two war hero’s. In my book, like Diana, I believe any person who goes to war on our behalf is a hero."
It has been a few weeks now after I have read the book and I now realized that some of my relatives must have been addicts....hmmmm
March 12, 2017
I LOVED this book. As a young woman, I wasn’t sure if I would relate to WWI and WWII stories and individuals Canadians casually refer to as heroes. Ms Bishop takes you by the hand, bursts the virtual bubble around her family, and guides you on a tour of her private world. The happy, sad, tantalizing and certainly dark parts combine to create a compelling and "can't-put-this-book-down" kind of story. The transparency allows you to witness how Ms Bishop took our Canadian heroes (her personal heroes) off their pedestals, dismantled and humanized them, only to rightly put them back on their deserving pedestals. In a life and time where it would have been so easy to take another route, Ms Bishop overcomes adversities, and shows women (and men) there is a hero in all of us.
February 10, 2017
World War One flying ace, Billy Bishop, is a true Canadian hero who's legendary status is celebrated in a many ways including at the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport with artifacts and exhibits. His legacy for Canada is clear but what about for his family? This is the intimate and revealing story of his legacy from his granddaughter's perspective. Billy Bishop was Diana Bishop's grandfather, a man who died when she was just 3 years old. Yet, the force of his personality and celebrity deeply impacted his only son, Arthur, which in turn affected Diana for good and for ill. This is Diana's personal story, told with humour and insight. It will resonate for anyone who has dared to examine their own life in a clear-headed way. The process is never easy but the result can be greater self-knowledge and, ultimately, forgiveness. love and peace.
February 25, 2017
Author Diane Bishop is the granddaughter of Canada's WWI flying ace Billy Bishop. What she mainly explores in this very well-written memoir is what it's like to be in a family with such a famous relative; what it is like for her; what it was like for her father, Billy Bishop's only son; what it was like for her mother, being married to the son of a legendary man. Ms. Bishop also has a brother but doesn't talk much about him, because, as she said, his life is his story to tell. While she spends a great deal of time describing her life and her mother's life, her father ends up being the center of attention in this memoir. (Her grandfather died when she was a baby.)
After her mother dies, of what Diane Bishop believed was internalized anger that turned into cancer, Ms. Bishop must deal with her father and his mental and physical deterioration. This makes her own anger bubble to the top, and it's most interesting how she deals with it all; as well as how she views her life after becoming a daughter no longer needed, because both parents were gone. The author, who never married or had children, has had a busy, adventurous career as a journalist, and comes across as an intelligent, emotionally mature person. Someone who tried never to take the easy way out. Someone who always defended her grandfather's legend, because she believed he was a most honorable man who deserved all the glory he received. Pride doesn't propel Diane Bishop. Honesty is what she's looking for in life--honesty in words, actions and relationships.
(Note: I received a free e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the author or publisher.)
After her mother dies, of what Diane Bishop believed was internalized anger that turned into cancer, Ms. Bishop must deal with her father and his mental and physical deterioration. This makes her own anger bubble to the top, and it's most interesting how she deals with it all; as well as how she views her life after becoming a daughter no longer needed, because both parents were gone. The author, who never married or had children, has had a busy, adventurous career as a journalist, and comes across as an intelligent, emotionally mature person. Someone who tried never to take the easy way out. Someone who always defended her grandfather's legend, because she believed he was a most honorable man who deserved all the glory he received. Pride doesn't propel Diane Bishop. Honesty is what she's looking for in life--honesty in words, actions and relationships.
(Note: I received a free e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the author or publisher.)
February 21, 2017
This is a poignant and profound memoir of a granddaughter. Diana Bishop, granddaughter of Billy Bishop, Canada's famous WWI flying ace, has captured in her memoir the lasting effect of fame, fortunes won and lost, and the public/private persona of the men in her family who fought bravely but who brought home such damaged psyches. These damaged psyches affected their spouses, children and grandchildren in many ways. This is Diana's personal story of how she came to understand the behaviour of her grandfather, Billy and his son, her father, Arthur. By coming to terms with the truth about these two men's familial relationships, she found the emotional and psychological strength to forgive them for the damage done to subsequent generations. Many of the family's rollicking tales will have you laughing through your tears. This is a powerful and poignant story about the emotional legacy of these two war heroes.
January 13, 2017
I read this as a publishers' ARC.
The book is an exposé of Billy Bishop's family written by his grandaughter, Diana Bishop apparently as a memoir/catharsis.
Behind the hero's life and descendants lurk shadows and dysfunction. The author tells it all while defending the WW1 flying ace's exploits. The shadows reach her and certainly affect her adversely. She overcomes most of it by the time the book ends after caring for her father who has severe dementia.
Diana Bishop has a long and successful journalistic career and that makes the reading easy. There is some unnecessary repetition in case the reader has forgotten what went before, but otherwise the story flows, and the reader certainly engages and sympathizes with her.
I learned much about Billy Bishop that I didn't know and it made the book a worthwhile read for me.
Recommended for military history buffs and those that enjoy memoir.
The book is an exposé of Billy Bishop's family written by his grandaughter, Diana Bishop apparently as a memoir/catharsis.
Behind the hero's life and descendants lurk shadows and dysfunction. The author tells it all while defending the WW1 flying ace's exploits. The shadows reach her and certainly affect her adversely. She overcomes most of it by the time the book ends after caring for her father who has severe dementia.
Diana Bishop has a long and successful journalistic career and that makes the reading easy. There is some unnecessary repetition in case the reader has forgotten what went before, but otherwise the story flows, and the reader certainly engages and sympathizes with her.
I learned much about Billy Bishop that I didn't know and it made the book a worthwhile read for me.
Recommended for military history buffs and those that enjoy memoir.
September 15, 2019
To make things clear, I'm not DNF-ing it because it's a bad book! NOT AT ALL! I just am currently unable to finish it because of a very busy schedule. I'm trying to read like three books right now and unfortunately, can't finish all of them without having my head explode or without a time machine. Get me one and I'll finish it.
Anyways, I'm planning to try it again some time later so I'd do justice to it. I feel so bad.
The story is interesting and you know I love biographies....
Anyways, I'm planning to try it again some time later so I'd do justice to it. I feel so bad.
The story is interesting and you know I love biographies....
September 15, 2016
Fascinating exploration of the family secrets the Bishops kept, and about the celebrity around ace fighter pilot hero Billy Bishop.
November 26, 2018
Diana Bishop is a terrific storyteller. Living Up to a Legend is a touching and insightful look at how the great deeds of an ancestor can resonate down through the generations.
December 1, 2017
I read this as a publishers' ARC.
The book is an exposé of Billy Bishop's family written by his grandaughter, Diana Bishop apparently as a memoire/catharsis.
Behind the hero's life and descendants lurk shadows and dysfunction. The author tells it all while defending the WW1 flying ace's exploits. The shadows reach her and certainly affect her adversely. She overcomes most of it by the time the book ends after caring for her father who has severe dementia.
Diana Bishop has a long and successful journalistic career and that makes the reading easy. There is some unnecessary repetition in case the reader has forgotten what went before, but otherwise the story flows, and the reader certainly engages and sympathizes with her.
I learned much about Billy Bishop that I didn't know and it made the book a worthwhile read for me.
Recommended for military history buffs and those that enjoy memoir.
The book is an exposé of Billy Bishop's family written by his grandaughter, Diana Bishop apparently as a memoire/catharsis.
Behind the hero's life and descendants lurk shadows and dysfunction. The author tells it all while defending the WW1 flying ace's exploits. The shadows reach her and certainly affect her adversely. She overcomes most of it by the time the book ends after caring for her father who has severe dementia.
Diana Bishop has a long and successful journalistic career and that makes the reading easy. There is some unnecessary repetition in case the reader has forgotten what went before, but otherwise the story flows, and the reader certainly engages and sympathizes with her.
I learned much about Billy Bishop that I didn't know and it made the book a worthwhile read for me.
Recommended for military history buffs and those that enjoy memoir.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews