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HOMER HICKAM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
Spring '10 Issue, March 2010
click here for this issue's photos
Dear Gentle and Prodigious Readers,
This is one of the busiest times of my life and also very exciting. It is great to let you know that the Anousheh Ansari memoir, MY DREAM OF STARS is now published! I think you'll like this book that I co-wrote with Mrs. Ansari. We've already had much fun at a couple of signings here in Huntsville. (Photos 1 - 4).
Anousheh's memoir is a lot closer to A Thousand Splendid Suns than The Right Stuff but it has elements of both. I know you'll enjoy it. Go to My Dream of Stars page to order from Amazon or BarnesandNoble.com or click on the gift icon to order your own autographed copy, signed by both Anousheh and me. Mr. Shaver only has a few of these, very rare so for collectors, they're the ones to go after!
Here's a little of the opening chapter:
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My Dream of Stars:
From Daughter of Iran to Space Pioneer
Anousheh Ansari with Homer Hickam
“Call this a love story that ends not only with an embrace but a fortune gained, a dream fulfilled, and a voyage to the far and magnificent reaches of space. After everything was done and I landed beneath silky parachutes on the high desert of Kazakhstan, I realized it wasn't rocket engines that had propelled me to the stars but the infinite power of hopes, dreams, and especially love that transcends everything, even the universal principles of physics.
Wherever I go, I am asked to tell the story of how I flew into space. I am pleased to tell it, yet I fear sometimes my words are inadequate to explain the passion, the joy, and sometimes the despair I experienced during every stage of the journey it took to get there from my youth in Iran.
I recall watching from the International Space Station the glow of the sun as it began its rise. From my vantage point 220 miles high, I could see the glimmering threads of gold and silver along the edge of our magnificent planet that heralded a new tomorrow. I found myself delighted not only with this glorious apparition, but with all the new tomorrows coming at me, one on top of the other as I raced around the world, safe inside my aluminum cocoon. When I was in space, I felt free of all the trivial details that can preoccupy the minds of humanity daily. I had been blessed to not only dream of the stars but also to be lost among them. But even in space, I was aware that the light of our tomorrows is sometimes threatened by the darkness of our yesterdays.
Although beautiful in its own way, I did not enjoy seeing the sun draw a deep shadow across the planet, snuffing out continents and seas alike. As far as I was concerned, that encroaching darkness represented yesterday. Although some say that one's past is the primary predictor of one's future, I firmly believe this is not the case—our yesterdays are gone, done, and finished. Only what we do to make our tomorrows better is important.
Rockets that go into deep space use stacked engines called stages. As each stage is exhausted, it is detached and left behind while the next one blazes higher. Just as I once rode a multi-staged rocket into space, I invite you to take this journey with me through the stages of my life, propelled not by rocket fuel but by determination, perseverance, and the power of that sweetest energy of all: love.”
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THE WRITING LIFE:
The Dinosaur Hunter has a publication date! Look for it on November 9, 2010, just in time for the Christmas Holiday season! St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne is very enthusiastic about this novel. I wish you could see the cover. It's glorious, but secret so far, sorry. Much, much more to come as the publication date nears.
JOURNEYS:
I just returned from New York where I appeared on Fox & Friends to talk about My Dream of Stars and also the disaster that has been visited upon NASA by John Holdren, the White House Science Czar, with his willing accomplices at NASA HQ. For my thoughts on this, please look at some of my recent blogs or look under "What's New?" on the home page of www.homerhickam.com. A great battle will soon be fought for the future of the American human spaceflight program. The outcome is not certain. Help me save the wonderful men and women of NASA and her contractors who work so hard to open up the pathways of space by writing your congresspersons and voicing your opinion. I have a sample letter on my blog (just click on HOMER'S BLOG on www.homerhickam.com) that you can modify and send to your Senator or Representative. Help your children and grandchildren have a future in space.
Your writer and friend,
Homer Hickam
FROM LINDA:
Anousheh and Homer's My Dream of Stars has been a difficult book for them to write, but now it is here and all couldn't be prouder! It would be a great Book Club pick and we have discussion questions available and soon posted on our Reading Groups page http://www.homerhickam.com/groups/ and our My Dream of Stars page http://www.homerhickam.com/books/dream.shtml. Anousheh is such a classy lady and her new dream is to use her life story in hopes of inspiring the youth of the world, especially females, to work to make their dreams come true. Of course foremost in her mind still is a hope that they will be inspired to work hard to learn math and science to go into technical and engineering fields to continue the exploration of space. She would love to return to space and Homer wants to go too. Hummm, me too!!
It has been a long and cold winter, very unusual for our area and we are sick of it! SO, we are off to St. John this week for a working vacation at our home Skyridge. Four good friends join us and we will have lots of laughter, sea adventures, deck time helping the boats through the Narrows, and fun and our wonderful island friends including St. Paddy's Day and a blues music festival. Homer will also be working on book thirteen when he makes time and of course we will do repairs and improvements on the house. It is fun when the view is fourteen islands!
All the kitties are fine, and we will have a good cat sitter, Kelly, taking care of them while we are away. No photos this time, as this is really supposed to just be an announcement that the book is out. The Dream is alive in the Hickam and Ansari houses and in Rocket City, Huntsville, Alabama. Happy spring! Linda
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