Submitted by:
Jim Makichuk
There’s an English saying that says the person you are at 7 is the person you will be. I’m probably a good example of that, I was born in Swan River in 1946 and grew up in Benito to the age of 12, with a year spent in Flin Flon.

Those years were my inspiration to write a story about the village, a story that I had for well over 40 years. I still have family in the valley, two aunts and a few 3rd and 4th cousins as well as a lot of friends. Both my parents have passed away and are buried in Benito.

I have returned often to Benito and Swan River since my parents returned from Ontario around 1989 and the story began to take hold on one trip where I reconnected with my Grade 6 teacher, Shirley Koroluk, who was one of my inspirations to pursue a career in movies, of which I’ve been successful at.

It’s a long way from Hollywood to Benito, but I’ve always been able to keep a good perspective on both places even though they’re so far apart in terms of culture, size and livability. Inevitably, people are the same, they have the same dreams and the same hopes in a village of 500 or a city of 10 million.

Finding a story in which I could bring out the memories of Benito in the late 1950’s wasn’t hard, but I needed another part that could make it more exciting. That came when I discovered a true story about someone whose voice was heard on radios through-out the western states and provinces saying he was the “Emperor of Mars”.

I used that story and my own adventures as a 12-year old and came up with the book, Emperor of Mars. But my greatest joy was dedicating the book to Shirley who came to the Winnipeg book signing to the surprise of the audience. It was a warm and heartfelt experience for both of us. I also met a handful of Benito-ites who actually went to school with me.

Benito has changed to some extent, fewer businesses mostly, but it continues to remain a town while many other villages have gone. I came back in 2005 and produced a video on the 2005 reunion which was sold at the town office and still get an occasional request for a DVD. But the village has retained its feeling as I see families on the street, not as much as the 1950’s and 60’s, but certainly enough to keep it vibrant.

I hope to make Emperor of Mars as a movie, possibly in 2013 and it would be my dream to film it in Benito and with the magic of computer-generated imaging, I could create Benito into 1957 again, with a main street that would show all the buildings and even the grain elevators as they were.