His father was a non-Inuit manager of the Hudson's Bay Company trading post in Fort Severight (now Kangiqsualujjuaq), while his mother was a local Inuk.
[3] Among his seven siblings, his sister Mary Simon is a former president of Makivik Corporation, former diplomat and the current Governor General of Canada.
Through his company, Johnny May's Air Charters, he flew search-and-rescue missions in the Arctic tundra, as well as medevacs between Inuit villages and from Nunavik to hospitals in southern Canada.
The book tells the story of Pengo Pally, Johnny May's little beaver aircraft, which takes readers on a tour from Kangiqsualujjuaq to Kuujjuaraapik, and welcomes the animals of the region on board.
Inspired by Johnny May, the first Inuk pilot in Canada, the book celebrates his "Christmas Candy Drop" tradition and contributions to Nunavik.