Dr. Dave Williams is a Self-described Curious kid from Saskatchewan who has explored the depths of the sea, piloted jets, flown twice in space and contributed to the health of many.

He will be at the Saskatchewan Festival of Words to share his journey.

"I'm really excited to be there, and share some of the experiences that I've had growing up. And then also what it's like flying in space and living and working underwater."

Dr. Williams was born in Saskatoon. "I really love my western heritage. I actually grew up in Montreal and went to the University of McGill. It was a remarkable experience."

 "Like many kids, in the 1960s, the human space flight, NASA flying into space, Russia flying into space, the dream really captured my imagination. I remember watching Allan Shepherd lift off to go into space of May 1961 and thought 'that's what I want to do'. It seemed absolutely incredible. But in those days in Canada, we did not have an astronaut program. We're the 3rd country to send satellites into space. So the dream seemed pretty much impossible. But lo and behold things change, and just after I finished medical school 1983, Canada had it's first selection of astronauts. Later on, in 1992 I applied, and was selected as one of 4 successful candidates."

"It's truly the ride of a lifetime. And both times that I flew in space it was on the space shuttle. And you get into your space suits, climb onto the Astro van out to the launch pad, and climb onto the shuttle. Roughly about 4 hours prior to liftoff. And of course, during that time before liftoff, you're going through a very comprehensive launch checklist to make sure everything is working properly. And the last thing on the checklist occurs at T-minus 2 minutes. And at that point you close the visor on your spacesuit helmet, you turn the oxygen on inside your suit, and you wait for 2 minutes. It's kind of interesting because you wonder 'what are you thinking about in those 2 minutes before you sit on top of this controlled explosion taking you from being stationary to travelling 25 times the speed of sound in 8 1/2 minutes. For me, I remember looking at the overhead window and thinking 'wow, what a beautiful day for a launch', and then at T-minus 15 seconds I had this huge reality check that in 15 seconds, I'm going to have 7 1/2 million pounds of rocket thrust beneath me lifting off. And that certainly got my attention. A little bit scary actually, and by the time my brain processed that it was T-minus 6.6 seconds. The solid rocket boosters were just about to start, the main engines ignited and then 6 seconds later the solid rocket boosters start. And you're off for a ride of a lifetime. It's an unbelievable experience."

 Dr. Williams is the Canadian record holder for the highest total number of spacewalks.

"I was very lucky on my second space flight, to help build the space station. So I did 3 spacewalks, led 2 of the walks. And my second spacewalk I spent probably around 6 hours or so riding on the end of the Canada Arm, which was truly a remarkable experience. Very proud moment as you can imagine for a Canadian astronaut."

 At the Saskatchewan Festival of Words, Williams will be presenting from his autobiography "Defying limits."

"Defying Limits is an autobiography in which I touch on all the various aspects of how I decided to become a physician, my passion for becoming an astronaut, and flying and living under water, but I actually started writing books for children. My first book was called 'To burp or not to burp. The guide to your body in space'. Which if you're in space, that's a very important question. And then I wrote 3 other books for kids before I wrote Defying Limits. Defying Limits is actually for everyone. There are kids that have read it, and they loved some of the stories in there, and adults have told me they appreciate reading it as well." said Williams, who shared the events that defined his life in 'Defying Limits"

 "I think I'll have 3 separate appearances. A couple of presentations I'll be giving, with slides from space and underwater. Talking about Defying Limits and some of the things that are in the book. But I'm also going to be interviewed by Mary Carmicheal so I'm really excited about that as well. We've had a chance to cross paths in the past, and she's had a remarkable career in aviation as well."

Dr. Williams will be at the festival from July 18th to the 21st.