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HOMER HICKAM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
Summer '03 Issue,
click here for this issue's photos
Dear Friends:
It's been hot here in Alabama and humid, too, but that's what summers are all about in the American south. Actually, I enjoy the excited thrumming of the heatbugs (cicadas) that live on our little mountain because of their sheer exuberance as they proclaim the season HOT. Linda, not quite so pleased with the weather or the noise of the bugs, says "They're dying, Homer, that's why they're yelling their heads off." Maybe so but I suspect there's a little hymn-singing in there, too, odes to the joys of summer which always pass much too fast for the cicadas and this old boy, too. In any case, Linda and I hope you've had a good summer, and that you've managed to sing your own hymn to it in your own way. Our cats have slept through it for the most part, mainly because they've had to work so hard to hold down our deck. You never know, after all, when those pesky decks will forget gravity and begin to rise on their own. Thank goodness, cats instinctively know t0 hold them down by sprawling on them and refusing to move for hours at a time! One unhappy report on our cats is that our gray male lap cat Batman has been diagnosed as diabetic. We haven't gotten all the blood work back yet so don't know what regimen he'll have to undergo, but for sure special diabetic food and probably insulin shots. However, he seems no worse for wear. His only symptom so far is that he decided to pee on our bed which was a decidedly unhealthy thing to do, especially if I had caught him at it. He's at heart a good old boy, though, and we shall see him through this crisis as best we can. Photo 1 is of Flopsy in the front, then Batman and then Rocky, a raccoon that hangs around for a handout. Linda photographed them through our back door, all waiting patiently for dinner.
THIS WRITER'S LIFE:
This is a bit of a nervous time. Very soon, the book I've been working on over the past year will be out in the marketplace. Writing is an art but it is also a business. Either a writer sells his work or he stops being published. The fall season of books is about to begin and I and my new novel will be in the middle of it, duking it out with all the heavyweight writers who also tend to be published during this season. The Keeper's Son is my first book for St. Martin's and I hope it does well. It already has received great reviews from Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly. These are the first hurdles for any book and mine is now ahead of the pack. But, ultimately, to keep being published, it isn't reviews that matter but how many books are sold. The Keeper's Son will be shipped to book stores on September 17, so I'd appreciate it if you asked for it now at your favorite bookseller so that it will be properly stocked. To whet your appetite a bit, the first chapter is on the main page of our Web site. My book tour as we presently know it will be listed at the end of this newsletter, and also posted and updated on the website, linked from the main page. An author on tour is most heartened by seeing his fans lined up with his new book so I sure hope to see you out there! If you can't make it for the tour, remember the book can also be ordered with an autograph and inscription from Shaver's Books (see books.htm ) or simply click on the cover of the book here and you'll be taken to Amazon.com to order. It's also great to add some positive comments about the book on Amazon or other book-selling sites on the web, too. These reader reviews really help someone decide on a book, and we appreciate so the time you take to do them.
To help readers who are members of book clubs, Linda has already produced discussion questions for the new book. See them for TKS and the other books on our Reading Group page. And just for you great newsletter people, if you pick The Keeper's Son for your book club, get in touch with Linda, and, schedule permitting, I can do a 15 minute telephone visit. I always enjoy these discussions. It's a great way for me to get feedback on what you enjoy when you read as well as your perception of my work. I hope I can add a little light on the subject as well!
I know many you have signed up for this newsletter partly because of the possibility of winning in the autographed book drawings . . . which is fine. You will be happy to know Linda is running three extra contest drawings in September, October and November in honor of The Keeper's Son. All of you will also be automatically entered in those drawings for a beach glass necklace (created by Linda) as well as a signed copy of The Keeper's Son. Why the beach glass jewelry? Well, there are actually three characters in my new novel who, spaced over time, create art using beach glass. I wonder where I got that idea? Photo 2 is of some of Linda's beach glass work that will be given away in the contest. Before she took up the full-time job of author's assistant, Linda's work was prominently displayed in fine shops all over the southeast United States and the Caribbean.
The Keeper's Son is set on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and one very interesting book tour visit will be at Cape Hatteras on Oct. 18 to help celebrate the 200th anniversary of the lighthouse there. I am very pleased that the National Park Service approved "Keeper's" to be sold on park grounds so I'll not only give a little speech but sign some books, too. This should be great fun and I anticipate seeing old friends who know me as old Divemaster Homer, terror of the Hatteras deep. I once scuba dived quite a lot into those deep, dangerous waters while researching Torpedo Junction, my first book. Of course, since then, I've been somewhat stereotyped by my own self through my memoirs (and the movie October Sky) as a rocket scientist rather than a diver or a writer. For the record, diving was my passion for years (it still is although I cut back a bit when I got bent), and I was only a rocket scientist for a little while. Throughout my life, though, I've always been a WRITER. It is my greatest passion so I hope all the Rocket Boys/October Sky aficionados out there (I know there are millions) will allow me to write about other topics of interest including my "story of love in a time of war" which is The Keeper's Son. Try it, rocket boys and girls. I bet you'll like it.
Speaking of rockets though, another place I'll be stopping by on the tour is Coalwood, West Virginia, the town of my youth and the home of the Rocket Boys. Coalwood holds an annual October Sky Festival (October 4 this year) and I and all the living rocket boys will be there (even Quentin!) and perhaps even my mom Queen Elsie herself. The festival is always so much fun, see coalwood.htm. The Mack Truck company has gotten involved and will bring a big display including a special truck painted in old Olga Coal Company logo and colors. My dad would have loved it! It will be named "Big Jeb" after the character in Sky of Stone who helped me through my first day of work in the coal mine during the eventful summer of 1961. And speaking of Sky of Stone, we recently finished the negotiations with Hallmark on the adaptation of that work into a television movie. What a hoot that will be! Of course, not all options turn into movies but Mickey, my agent in Hollywood, says when Hallmark options 'em, they make 'em! If so, he anticipates "green light" in about 18 months. We'll see, as Mom says to just about everything, God bless her.
My book-in-writing (working title: The Ambassador's Son but certain to be changed) is coming along very well. I'm up to about chapter 7 and it's flowing. I'm not entirely in the groove just yet and it will be interrupted by the book tour but I'm confident I'll get into it when I return. The theoretical turn-in date to my editor is January 1, 2004 but some books need time to simmer so we'll see how it goes. This book is the second in the "Thurlow" series that is beginning with The Keeper's Son and takes place in the Solomon Islands in 1943 which was, coincidentally, the year I was born. So, no, this isn't a memoir! I am listening to Mary Fahl's album, The Other Side of Time during much of the writing. The music just fits the mood of the novel, somehow, so I let it play again and again. Of course, I keep the door to my study closed so it doesn't drive Linda crazy. Our kitty Maxx, who likes to sleep on my desk, must like Mary's voice as she (Maxx, that is) just lies there and purrs the entire time, her nub of a tail occasionally twitching on my shift key, making for interesting capitalizations.
JOURNEYS:
I got to go twice to Montana this summer to hunt dinosaur bones. How I love to hunt them dinos! I feel just like a Coalwood boy all over again when I'm out there in Hell Creek scrambling up vertical cliffs, jumping across yawning chasms, and sweating in the 110 degree heat of that vast prehistoric world. My buds Frank Stewart and Bill Hendricks joined me once again on my expeditions in June and again in July. John Sanders was with us on the June excursion. June in Hell Creek meant cold rain and oceans of mud which added an extra thrill to clambering about the tortured landscape but July returned the weather to its usual hot and hellish clime. We formed a satellite camp this time over on another peninsula away from Jack Horner's main camp and were extremely successful. I, myself, found a coveted giant Tyrannosaurus-Rex toe bone, PHOTO 3. I even sent this photo up to astronaut Ed Lu who's presently aboard the space station (more on Ed below). Frank found what we believe is the skull to a small theropod (meat-eater) or perhaps a baby T-Rex, a great find. Bill found a duckbill that was of such interest to Dr. Jack that he flew in a helicopter to have a look. It likely will be dug up. John also found some good stuff, including theropod and duckbill teeth. I am so proud of my little team. We're actually getting to be pretty good at this paleontology stuff. PHOTO 4 is of me using a pick to dig out the remnants of an ornithomimosaur. What you don't see, just out of view of the photo, is one of Jack Horner's grad students. I borrowed her pick for the photo. Digging, of course, is why God made paleontology grad students.
PHOTO 5 shows Linda and me at a fascinating falconry class at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, WV. We were there to make some speeches but took time to have some fun, too. Their hunting owl (PHOTO 6) has the most amazing eyes!
About astronaut Ed Lu. I met Ed years ago while on one of my wonderful book tours in a Houston bookstore. I recall it was for the Back to the Moon tour and he showed up in a signing line, introduced himself, and we became buds. When he was getting ready to go down to Kazakhstan to be launched aboard a Soyuz to the International Space Station, I sent him an e-mail which just caught him practically as he was going out the door. He e-mailed back and said he'd touch base with me in orbit. I puzzled about that but sure enough, he did! He called me on the phone! Can you imagine that? We talked about his view (glorious), his work (hard but satisfying), his time on-orbit (six months which he said is going entirely too quickly) and dinosaur-hunting (he wants to go). I also allowed him to speak to another species, that being Maxx the cat. Maxx meowed on cue (I tickled her) and Ed was, if not amused, at least bemused. Of course our old kitty-angel Paco was the very first cat to meow in space, way back in 1991, but his meows were taped, not live. When we hung up, I was struck by the thought that little Sonny Hickam the Rocket Boy could have happily died and gone to heaven if he'd had the chance to talk to an astronaut, especially one in orbit! Old Sonny, that being me, felt nearly the same way. Maxx was a bit underwhelmed and promptly went back to sleep.
The other journey I can report is once more back down to St. John in July to visit our other home there. This time we took Linda's parents and one of her brothers and his wife, and her sister and her husband. Got that? See PHOTO 7 of the gang dancing in our kitchen. Anyway, we all had a great deal of fun or at least I did, mainly because I like all those folks and also because I got to drive for the first time (look out, goats and pigs!) my recently-purchased Suzuki Samurai nicknamed "Dosie" after my heroine in The Keeper's Son. We were also there for St. John's annual Carnival which was spectacular! I even danced in the street with the Queen of the Carnival, no kidding, and only mildly embarrassed Linda and the entire island while doing so. Her brother-in-law encouraged me through example so it wasn't entirely my fault. That's it from here. I really, really, really hope to see you all on book tour this fall and hope you enjoy The Keeper's Son. Linda proclaims it "a great read" and she's an honest girl, I swan.
Your writer,
Homer Hickam
THE TOUR:
HOMER HICKAM The Keeper's Son
SCHEDULE (9/3/03 subject to change)
Thursday, September 25
Montgomery, AL
Capital Books 5:00 pm
1140 E. Fairview Ave. 334 265-1473
Friday, September 26
Montgomery, AL
Alabama Center for the Book 6:00 pm
Ticket required 334 844-4947
Saturday, September 27
Birmingham, AL
Books & Co. 12:00 pm
757 Brookwood Village
205 870-0213
Saturday, October 4
Coalwood, WV
October Sky Festival
10:00 am to 5:00 pm
coalwood.htm
Sunday, October 5
Bluefield, WV
Hearthside Books 9:00 11:00 am
1603A Bland St
304 325-9237
Knoxville, TN
Barnes & Noble 4:00 pm
8029 Kingston Pike
865 670-0773
Friday, October 10
Huntsville, AL
Barnes & Noble 7:00 pm
2750 Carl T. Jones Parkway
Suite 750
256 885-0501
Saturday, October 11
Nashville, TN
Southern Festival of Books
Monday, October 13
Dayton, OH
Books & Co. 7:00 pm
350 E. Stroop Rd.
937-297-6365
Tuesday, October 14
Springfield, OH
Clark County Public Library
speaking engagement, evening
Wednesday, October 15
Hawley Cooke 7:00 pm
4600 Shelbyville Rd.
Louisville, KY 502 843-3800
Friday, October 17, 2003
Nags Head, NC
Lighthouse Gallery & Gifts 5:00 - 8:00 many authors
301 Driftwood Street
1 800 579-2827
Saturday, October 18
Hatteras Lighthouse Anniversary events -
Ceremony starts at noon
Sign books 1-3:00 pm and informal talk at 3-3:30pm.
Cape Hatteras, NC
The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
Keynote speaker and signing, tickets required 7:00pm
919 787-6378
Sunday, October 19
Manteo, NC
Manteo Books 1:00 pm
105 Sir Walter Raleigh St.
252 473-1221
Monday, October 20
Raleigh, NC
Quail Ridge Books 7:00 pm
3522 Wade Ave.
919 828-1588
Wednesday, October 22
Cincinnati, OH
Joseph Beth 7:00 pm
2692 Madison Rd.
513 731-7770 x114
Friday, October 24
Chicago, IL
Brent Books 12:30 pm
309 W. Washington St.
312 364-0126
Naperville, IL
Anderson Books 7:00 pm
123 W. Jefferson St.
630-355-2665
Saturday, October 25
Winnetka, IL
Bookstall 11:00 pm
811 Elm St.
847 446-8880
Monday, October 27
Denver, Colorado
Tattered Cover Bookstore 7:30 pm
2955 E. First Ave.
303 322-1965 X2745
Wednesday, October 29
Atlanta/Marietta, GA
Borders 7:00 pm
The Avenue East Cobb Bldg
4475 Roswell Road
Marietta, GA 30062
770-565-0947
Thursday, October 30
Arlington, VA
Olsson's Books 7:00pm
2111 Wilson Blvd.
703 525-4227
Saturday, November 1
Reston, VA
Barnes & Noble 7:00pm
1851 Fountain Drive
703 437-9490
Wednesday, November 5
Nashville, TN
Davis Kidd 6:00 pm
4007 Hillsboro Rd.
615 783-0218 X 311
Friday, November 7
Lexington, KY
Georgetown College speech 11:00 am
Joseph Beth Books 7:30 pm
161 Lexington Green Circle
859 422-1424
Saturday, November 8
Kentucky Book Fair
Frankfurt, KY
Thursday, November 13
Philadelphia, PA
Franklin Institute speaking engagement
7:30pm 215 448-1352
FROM LINDA
As usual, I like to include a few special letters and photos myself. PHOTOS 8 and 9 show Alabama artist Duane Hoffman's wonderful woodwork. We are privileged to be "storing" two of his wonderful carvings in our living room until there can be a Rocket Boys museum that can display them properly. Here is the story of them:
From wood carver Duane Hoffman:
"Back in the 1940's I was heavy into model airplanes (no rockets in those days). The model building developed my love of woodworking-as a matter of fact I still have my very first woodcarving. After serving four years in the Navy, during the Korean War, after college and a degree in aeronautical engineering. I worked on jet and rocket engines (both liquids and solids) which created my interest in the Rocket Boys. Another reason for this interest, my wife is from West Virginia and her dad (Henry Napier) was a coal miner. That's my connection with Homer's writings and Coalwood.
We Are Not Afraid touched me very deeply. I'm always touched by human sacrifices people make to protect our (USA) way of life. This comes from my experience of service life and from the experience of working on military programs as an engineer. There was also a parallel of the experiences and pride of the coal miners lives and lives of the Kansas farmers, which I was exposed to during my younger years. So, after reading We Are Not Afraid I felt Homer should have something to show my thanks to him for this book. The eagle seemed to be the appropriate subject to reflect my thanks.
Coal miners are a special breed, and my father-in-law was special to me. Learning about Coalwood gave me the though of somehow honoring him. Again would become my outlet for my feelings. I made the coal miner carving from one solid piece of black walnut. I hope that other people will appreciate my way of making a tribute to the coal miners of West Virginia."
And a couple of other letters I have permission to share:
****** A.D.D No More ******
Dear Homer,
I have a teen son that I have struggle with for many years to read. I was told by one of his teacher to be patient that when he found something he was interested in he would read. Well we have tried basketball, football, 007, westerns, the new frontier, the great outdoors and others.
I had given up, then my son picked up a required reading my daughter had for ninth grade, October Sky. My son read the book within a week and was so intrigued he used his own money (which is hard to get him to do) to buy another Hickam book. This year he did his English project on October Sky and made an A++. I know I am his mother but it was a wonderful project.
For the first time my son is one of the top in his class and searches the internet regularly for new books by Mr. Hickam. He researches stars and rockets and sets his alarm for 4am to get up and watch meteor showers. He has mapped out a trip with his grandfather and grandmother to Florida this July in hopes to watch a space shuttle liftoff. It is such a pleasure to see a child so enthusiastic about learning. I might also add that my son Michael has taken 10mg of adderall for attention deficit for two years, after his new love for the Hickam books he no longer requires the drug and is still excelling. His English grades have gone from C's to A's. His writing abilities have improved literally 300%. He also delivered a short sermon at church one Sunday night with more confidence than I have ever seen in him.
I am sure you get many pieces of fan mail but I just wanted to add another note of thanks from a very grateful mother. Some say it takes a village to raise a child and I appreciate you being part of our village.
****** Pre-Calc Reads Rocket Boys: ******
Mr. Hickam, I am a mathematics teacher in New Hampshire. I first saw the movie October Sky about three years ago while I was on a trip to NY. I was moved and intrigued by the story and wanted to know the "real deal" about the Rocket Boys. Two years ago I read your novel, Rocket Boys, and got it in my head that my Pre-Calculus students should read it. It has taken about a year and a half to get this done but this winter I had fifty of my students reading and discussing your book and it's relationships, in my math class. Not only did they like the book more than the typical novels they read in high school, they could put themselves in the position of the characters. We had many discussions about how you dealt with love, family, school and rocketry. The funny part about many of the discussions we had was that my students kept looking to me for the "right" answer, of course I didn't have them, I could only give my opinion of the novel as well. This was difficult for them as students because when they read novels in English class it seems the teachers have all the answers. Your book has brought a new challenge to me as a teacher and has given me a chance to see my students in a different, non-mathy, light. This past Friday my students presented their "Rocket boys" projects, quite a few of which contained emails from you or your wife. I am amazed and extremely pleased with their commitment and creativity they showed in their projects. The projects ranged from essays about cerebral palsy and coal mining to a scrapbook about the animals from your youth, a project about the effects of relativity on your rockets and a movie about your brother Jim's life. They are amazing and I only wish you could see what my students have done with you, and your book. Many of the teachers I have spoken to about this endeavor have been amazed that my math students would read a book in PreCal class let alone come up with a project and follow through the way they have. Your book has not only moved me to be a better te outside the "box" and try something different and new. Thank you for the emails to my students and bringing your story to us. EP
++++++Photo 10 taken by Nolan Wells at Greg Lopatka's launch, info
++++++below, which captures the fascination and wonder of rocketry.
Have a blast! Rocket program designed to attract kids, encourage reading
By Lauren B. Kraft
STAFF WRITER Bolingbrook Sun
Even though the library might be the last place kids want to go during the school year, it isn't just about reading and research during the summer. This week retired teacher Greg Lopatka brought his model rockets to the Fountaindale Public Library to teach kids about rocketry and reading. The Bolingbrook resident read from one of his favorite books, Homer Hickam Jr.'s Rocket Boys. The movie "October Sky" was based on the book.
Lopatka showed a video clip of Hickam's first rocket launch in the yard of his childhood home from the movie "October Sky." He also encouraged children to read before he brought them outside to see a model rocket launch.
When he was a teacher in Chicago, the rocket section of his science classes always riveted his students, Lopatka said. "Science and rockets were the easiest things to motivate my students," Lopatka said.
The summer reading program, Lights, Camera ... Read! is intended to do the same thing for Fountaindale children. "That's our goal," said Karen T. Anderson, the district's director. "To bring kids into the library, have some fun and keep their reading skills going during the summer."
Research shows if children read throughout the summer, they can keep building on the skills they learned during the school year, Anderson said. They'd like to get entire families into the library to encourage children to read, said Carol Feldberg, school programs associate for the district.
Lopatka encouraged the children to read Rocket Boys before he blasted off three model rockets that his grandson, Jeff Lopatka, and friend, Rick Topolewski, retrieved from a field behind the library.
For information on how to bring his Lights, Camera, Read rocket show to your school or library, contact Greg F. Lopatka.
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