| |
We love fan mail and especially appreciate folks who give us permission
to reprint their wonderful letters. We have picked some of the best to
share with you below.
NASA Scientist Tyler from Oregon, Age 9
Dear Mr. Hickam, I thought you would like to know that there is a 9 year version of you living in Oregon. For my birthday, my mom took me to see October Sky. It is my favorite movie. I have been interested in space since I was in my crib. I read lots of books about space and I watch T.V. shows about space when I can. I also love to draw space pictures. There is a place near my town called the Astoria Column. Whenever there is a chance to see a comet, or shuttle, my Mom and Dad take my brothers and I there to get the best view. Even if it is late at night. In my town most people are loggers or fishermen, but Iım going to work at N.A.S.A. My Mom and Dad are always telling me to decide what I want to do and do it, donıt settle for less. That is what you did. And I want to be just like you. You are my hero. Just like you I donıt like math but I love science. But I will try to work harder at math. Last summer I got to go to parent/child space camp. It was the most exciting thing I've ever done. When I am older Iıd like to go to regular space camp. My Mom and Dad say maybe. Iıll go to Alabama. After I saw the movie I begged my parents for your book. They got it for me and Iım going to try and read all 428 pages. It will be the longest book I have ever read. I want to say thank you for telling your story, It really makes me believe that I can do great things. I will never forget this story.
Respectfully, Tyler
PS Do you like the Backstreet Boys?
Teacher Paul from Idaho
Hello Homer, I have finished reading your book October Sky and I have seen the movie. I wanted to let you know that I was honestly touched by your story. I believe this is the best book I have read in a long while and the best movie that I have seen. Your feelings about your family, friends and rocketry were brought out incredibly in your book. It made me think of my own family and friends, and the way I grew up. I was also impressed with the development of your friendship with your teacher Miss Riley. I am a teacher here in Idaho, and sometimes I forget the influence we have over students. I have recommended your book and movie to all of my students. Thank you.
Airplane October Sky viewer
Just saw your movie on a long plane ride. Was so moved I've just ordered the book through Amazon. Great story, I'm going to tell all my friends about it at work. Made me think of my own boyhood hopes and the need to encourage my own children to fulfill their earnest dreams. I hope to be like your dad, loving but firm and willing to give way when the time is right. Although, I'm now going to spend less time at work and more time with my family.
Karen from West Virginia
I've been wanting to tell you and Homer that I had the most wonderful experience watching October Sky with my two boys. It was so refreshing and pleasant to watch a movie together and not be shocked or exposed in any negative way. My two boys, 12 and 14, were enthralled with the movie--I was happy to watch them as they watched the movie. When the movie was over, everyone in the theater clapped! This is so rare these days, so it was a special experience and I was proud for you. I personally found the movie to be honestly inspiring--that you can do anything in life.
Getting Through to a Little Brother
I hope that I am not out of line, I found your e-mail address on-line. I want to commend you on your work, the wondrous, "Rocket Boys". My life was helped along too by rockets. I was having a hard time getting along with my girlfriend's younger brother of age 15, he saw me as a threat to him, he didn't like having me around. As your experience shows love is stronger than all, yet I wanted him to accept me. To accomplish this amazing task I bought us a starter kit from Estes Rockets. It worked, we bonded and our relationship took off like "Zincoshine". There's definitely something powerful about those rockets. John (little bro) and I plan to build our own from scratch this summer to be ready to launch on his 17th birthday. On that day he will also find the power inside the pages of "Rocket Boys" when I give him his own copy. Anyway, thank you for the great story and thank you for helping to make space a more tangible idea and place through your work at NASA.
From a young fan in Tennessee
I met you last Monday night at the bookstore. I was the first person in line to have you sign my book. I was the one that brought the newspaper article about me winning the NASA award with my design of a Mission to Mars. I wanted to tell you what a great honor it was to finally to meet you. I have to tell you a story about your movie. Late this spring, long after your movie left town, the 8th grade (my grade) at my school due to wining the magazine sale got to go to a movie during the school day. I talked to my principal and suggested that they get October Sky back. Well they did and many of my classmates had not seen it. I was really worried that they would not like it. Many students do not think it is very good to be smart. Well, the movie started and everyone was really watching it close. When Quentin came on the screen for the first time, everyone start saying "Stephen, Stephen" but I told them that I was Homer, just watch. Well, they loved it! Even better then that, they clapped like crazy at the end. I had a large group of students tell me that they understood why I wanted to work with NASA now. But the way they clapped, you just had to be there. It was a special moment.
Bonnie, English teacher in New Jersey
I'm happy to inform you that I have chosen October Sky as a summer reading assignment for 120 incoming honors freshmen at my school in NJ. Even though it's only June 22 and the last day of school for the year, I'm truly excited about starting the new year with your book. I believe it will be an auspicious beginning for the students' high school careers. Thanks!
From Homer to a Teacher in Dayton, Ohio
Thank you for your wonderful letter. I wrote October Sky / Rocket Boys to tell the story of Coalwood but I trusted that there was also a greater purpose that would eventually be revealed. Your letter, and others similar to it, show me that is indeed the case. You make me proud. O'Dell used to say "A rocket won't fly unless somebody lights the fuse." You're lighting the fuse of boys and girls who may very well fly to the frontiers of space. I'm proud of you and all who rallied around you. Keep up the good work for the kids of Dayton. It will pay off.
Best wishes to you and yours,
Homer Hickam
From Carl in Huntsville, AL
Homer, I told you once I read the book, it was and is, a life's work. The book transcends common material because of the manner in which it was written....first hand....and with the sparkle and indomitable dreams of a young man not unlike the rest of us. Unlike the work done on Torpedo Junction , the author of Rocket Boys invites the reader to join the group, the community and to re-live first hand, that magical period in our nation's evolution and our own.....all from the eyes of a young man so extraordinary and yet, so common and familiar to us all.
Speaking on a superficial level, yes, the book is about Homer and the Rocket Boys. But the message is clearly about dreams, hope and love in a very, very tough world. I am a better man for having read it and I am sure that virtually everyone else, with any degree of mental acuity, will feel the same way. The tough part is forthcoming.......like Neal Armstrong..........how do you keep the internal fire and what do you do now?
Fan report
Dr. Laura, radio talk show host says, "... go see "October Sky"! A wonderful story ... no cussin' ... no nudity ... Go see it! If you don't I'll come to your house and "pinch off your head!"
From Gloria
I have the radio on and Dr. Laura Schlessinger just RAVED about October Sky. I mean she went on and on. The lady calling in about the movie said that she cried and cried. Dr. Laura said that what really got her was the REAL movies at the end of the REAL people in Coalwood. They both (Dr. Laura and the caller) thought that the "mom and dad" were so true to life and felt they really did live there! Hey, what a cool deal to sit here and listen to Dr. Laura and the caller talk so kindly about October Sky!!!
Rocket Boy Miracle, Linda Hickam, Huntsville, AL
So many miracles have been involved with this Rocket Boys story, let me tell you another one....that storm that killed 48 people in OK hit us Wednesday night. Homer was gone and I woke up in the middle of the night to 2 inches of muddy water in the bedroom. It had come down a hill above us and entered through the garage, come in the door and walls and down the tile foyer into the other rooms. 250 signed October Sky paperbacks for video promotion were on the floor near the door in that foyer, ready to ship out. Mud and water everywhere, EXCEPT where those 6 boxes sat! The cardboard was barely damp on the bottom, so I opened all the cartons and blew a fan on them for a couple hours then sealed them with tape again when UPS came to get them as planned. But the books were NOT WET!! There was a little high spot in the tile there I guess.... or another RBoy miracle!!
Another Rocket Boy Miracle, a WV Fan
One of the books that I got signed in Charleston is for one of my Longaberger customers. Her son is very interested in rockets etc. They were going to send him to NASA Space Camp but he did not want to be away from home for that long. This is a wild story! When we got back from Charleston, I left Rusty's book in my van until I met his mother again. Well, my husband and I went to away on Mother's Day weekend and our anniversary and someone stole my van! My van was recovered 9 days later in Maryland and all of my baskets, and the book were in perfect shape! I had called Rusty's mother to tell her the sad story of the book! It was a pleasure to tell her that I had it back! Miracles do happen every day!
Reader Remembers Spike
Dear Homer, One reason I was so intrigued with "Jake Mosbly" was it reminded me of my eldest uncle who is no longer with us. No, he was not like Jake, it was an expression he always used. He spent most of his life in West Virginia. when anyone ever did something unusual or superlative, he would, without fail say "Well, you old Jake!" That expression now has new meaning to me! I'll be 50 in August and I remember school after the "Sputnik" scare. Gosh, I wasn't worried about the Russians, I was 8 years old and just hoped I could master longhand.
Lastly, I'm glad you included the story on Calvin. Once when I was playing basketball and a point or two away from the single game record, I was taken out of the game. the opponent made a big comeback and with a minute to go I was put back in. An unpopular reserve, Spike, came up to me and said "John, we're going to get you that record." I thought to myself, "what is he talking about. He blew our lead and he's in over his head." We stole the ball immediately and passed it ahead to Spike who was all alone under the bucket. I prayed that he would blow the bunny and I raced down in case he did. He suddenly stopped, turned and tossed me the ball for an easy lay-up. I had to hit a couple of other shots before the game under but that one was what made it happen. I don't think I ever thanked Spike. His dad never attended a game and most everyone picked on him. A few years ago I ran into him for the first time since high school and I brought it up. Knowing how he always exaggerated, he probably told folks for the past 25 years it was he who broke the record. Knowing what I know now, he needed something like that more than I did. Sadly, a year later he committed suicide. I always say all boys are idiots when they are young. Writing your story must have been great therapy. It would have been a shame to keep it to yourself.
Email from Jake Gyllenhaal About Early Review of October Sky
I wanted you guys to see this...
"October Sky is a gem! It is about rocketry, coal mining and family. It is about fathers and sons. It is an engrossing, great movie that will live in your memory forever." -- Larry King, USA TODAY
Love, Jake
Email to Jake from Homer
Jake - we had an excellent screening of the film Tuesday night at the MPAA in Washington. The Administrator of NASA, his eyes red-rimmed with tears, even hugged me afterwards! It was, of course, really you he was hugging in absentia. An Apollo astronaut was there, too - also teary. You made an astronaut who went to the Moon cry, Jake!
Homer
Thanks for the Enjoyable Tales
Dear Mr. Hickam, I noticed your email address when reading the reviews of Rocket Boys and wanted to drop you a quick note. I picked up your book at Borders about two weeks ago and didn't put it down until I finished it. A fantastic and inspirational book that teaches us that dreams can become realities. The fact that the movie was due out soon caught me unaware but I caught a sneak preview yesterday with my daughters (9 and 7). Very enjoyable and moved to tears at parts. My nine year old daughter is now reading your book. My only complaint about the movie is that it could not capture the complete spirit of the book. I like Chris Cooper and his work, and he did an excellent job, but I did not feel that your father was quite that talkative but rather remote and distant - the typical 50's dad. I also felt that your mother's central role in protecting your aspirations suffered in the movie. In the book, your mother seemingly used every trick 'in the book' to deflect your father's effort to derail your projects. If your mother was indeed as she is portrayed in the book, you are a lucky man. Probably my only legitimate complaint is that the dramatic license employed in the movie failed by having you drop out of school and work in the mine. I felt that this part of the movie really slowed it down and the time could have been perhaps devoted to three or four smaller tales in the book. Your mother confronting your father as he emerged from showing you the mine (in the book) might actually have been more dramatic. Pardon my efforts at film criticism - the transition from book to film is probably quite difficult and, all in all, the book did not lose all that much in the process. All in all, a great book, a very good movie, and I hope that you are writing a follow-up book at this very moment. I will soon try to pick up Torpedo Junction and your earlier piece in Air and Space. I hope that Rocket Boys is noticed in the voting for various literary awards. Many thanks for the enjoyable tales.
From Phil
Just wanted to let you know that I just finished Back to the Moon and have one complaint, it needed to be about 447 pages longer. It was over much too quickly. I'm am a technothriller junkie (Tom Clancy, Dale Brown, Craig Thomas, Stephen Coonts, etc.) and this book is equal to any of the hundreds that I have read. Congratulations. I hope you have a lot more coming. I also hope this will help spur additional interest in getting the space exploration programs up and running again. I think people have forgotten that the space program was directly responsible technological development for many of the conveniences we have today, including the miniaturization of circuits, etc.
New Job
I would first like to thank you for writing Rocket Boys. It is an amazing piece of work that really touched my soul. I grew up in a small farming community on our family's cotton farm. Since I was about ten years old, I was out working on the farm during summer vacation. My other activities included anything to do with aeronautics, including model rocketry. Rocketry and space exploration has always been part of my life, but I didn't really know how to go about making aerospace my career. I eventually got off the ranch, and got a degree in computer science. I have been working in this field for many years. After reading your book, I was both excited, and depressed. I wished I had followed through more strongly with my dreams to be able to make my career focused around my interests in aerospace. About two month before I had read your book, an aerospace company had advertised a position at their propulsion R&D lab in another state. I definitely had an interest in the position, but wasn't for sure my experience fit the job. I sent a resume in anyway. After a couple of months, I gave up on that job after not hearing anything. Well, two days after finishing Rocket Boys, and explaining to my wife my feelings of wishing I had followed a career path such as yours, I received a call from them for an interview. My heart shot to my throat! Anyway, I have since been offered a position at the propulsion laboratory, and am starting in two weeks. I just wanted to tell you this, as I'm sure you know the excitement I am feeling. Thank you again for writing the book. I will always remember the trials you and your friends had as you worked for what you wanted.
October Sky by Elyse
Late one evening, the sky shone bright
A miracle occurred that October night
It only happened because of what
One young boy did to make the cut
The heartache, struggle, and suffering he bore
Couldn't hurt his dream, he craved it more
No step for him was at all too high
If only his dream could reach the sky
Despite failed attempts, giving up was not right
For now, at last, his dream was in sight
He won the race because he knew all he'd need
Was the simple knowledge that in the end he'd succeed
He made sacrifices once in a while
But the man never gave up his big, bright smile
A Rocket Boy too
My relationship with my father is so much like your own that I find it hard to believe. I was never interested in sports... only rockets. I grew up waiting and watching every manned or unmanned launch. My dad always thought that what I was doing in the basement was foolish, and a waste of time. He wanted me to play baseball or get involved in some athletic endeavor. Since I only had an older sister, I guess I was his only chance of a "fatherly success". My grandfather and father were both lifelong railroaders and I knew that he wanted the same for me. My dad could never be bothered watching any of our launches and as a result, we never had anything together as father and son. My mother, unlike yours, never gave me any encouragement for my interests. But, we persisted. Our equivalent of Quentin did most of the difficult math and I did most of the propellant experimentation. Along with the talents of all of the handful of us combined, we managed to keep all of our limbs and carve out our own identity. All through junior and senior high school, I was known as the "rocket man". All of the signatures in my yearbooks are addressed as such. We had one teacher who helped us, but never offered the level of encouragement of your Miss Riley. We also entered our high school science fair, but never won. I could almost literally lift the characters from your story and replace them with ours and the story would remain incredibly similar. So, naturally, when I saw the film, I was shocked. My elderly mother and dad both went to see it with me and they were equally shocked. They immediately picked up on all of the characters and when I told them I was going to attempt to find a way to get in touch with you, they once again felt I was wasting my time. Some things never change!
JSC EngineerLoved Back to the Moon
I am sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your new book, Back To The Moon. I liked it so much, I actually read the entire book in one sitting, something I've never done before. I just couldn't put it down! Thanks very much for writing such an exciting story, and expressing some of the thoughts and opinions held by so many of us who have been a part of the space program. I only regret that I am done with the book and can't look forward to reading more about the adventures of Jack and Penny. Congratulations on a job very well done.
Father of Nine
I saw October Sky last night for the first time and then saw the article about you in the San Diego Union-Tribune from a week or two ago. I had saved the article because I wanted to read it and really didn't even know what it was about until after I had seen the movie. Anyhow, I would like to thank you for your book and for being responsible for such a great film. I thoroughly enjoyed it! When I went to see it I didn't know that it was a true story but people told me it was good, and I wasn't disappointed. As the father of nine kids, with five still at home, it is encouraging to know that there are still some movies that the kids can go see that are inspiring and clean. There must be 1,000 good stories like yours out there. It would be great if a studio would concentrate only on producing movies like October Sky and Apollo 13, and Rudy and others that are upbeat and positive, instead of all the trashy movies dealing with sex and violence and pornography and all the terrible topics that Hollywood covers.
I am almost exactly the same age as you and so the nostalgia of the 50's and 60's was great. My dad died of cancer at 60, when I was 22, so I can relate to that, but your determination to follow your dream was very inspiring. It has further inspired me to do something that I have been wanting to do for a long time. I have wanted to put out a political newspaper for years, and after seeing your movie, I promised myself that I will have it out by the end of June.
From Laura
I was able to read "Rocket Boys" over the weekend (although I had to refuse to cook dinner until I was left alone to finish the last few chapters) and it is simply wonderful, in many, many ways! I was especially intrigued with the development of the rocket propellants, having spent a summer and a year as an intern at the Army's Propulsion Lab during my last year at school. Now I understand why they had the big mixing bays for the test propellants. A little side story, I've been helping with Vacation Bible School this week. The other day one of the boys made the most sophisticated paper airplane I've ever seen from a sheet of construction paper. I began quizzing him on the hows and whys of the design, then asked him if he'd seen October Sky. A couple of the boys chimed in that they had, and a mom said her son has seen it 5 times, insisted that the entire family go see it with him, and cried through all 5 showings!
Rocket Writer Dolly Withrow in West Virginia
Well, writing buddies, today was the big day. Homer Hickam of ROCKET BOYS came to town. Bill and I enlisted our son and daughter-in-law to baby-sit with my ailing mother and off we went. Because of the tremendous response, they had to move the event from the library to a theater (what did they expect anyway?). So, what I thought in the beginning would be an intimate little group of book lovers and writers turned into an audience of 500 (the limit for the old fire hazard of a theater), including many movie goers who saw October Sky and may not have even read the book. Fortunately, I could hear every word of the one-hour talk, which was delivered with humor and without notes. He said that the title October Sky was an anagram of ROCKET BOYS. Also, he had quite a battle with the screenwriters who wanted to include obscene language because they said that's the way the boys would have talked. Moreover, they wanted to delineate the mother as a timid housewife. He tried to assure them those changes would simply not do. They told him he had signed a contract and there was nothing he could do. He said, "When I'm asked what kind of people live in West Virginia, I tell them intellectuals." He added that we have time to sit around and think a lot, so he began thinking (intellectualizing, you understand), and he decided to go to the producer, who had invested his money in the film. The producer's wife read the book Homer gave her and then told her husband the movie should portray the characters as accurately as possible. So, he won the war, but said that the two things in the movie he did not like was father's fictional name, John, and Homer's quitting school to work in the mines. Here's how ROCKET BOYS was born, so to speak. He wrote technical articles for SMITHSONIAN AIR AND SPACE magazine, and the editor called Homer one night and told him a writer had let her down, that she needed a 2,000-word article and could he get one to her by the next day. He said, "She knew I wasn't a good writer, but I was fast."had done no recent research, so he was stuck. Then, he noticed the old nose cone from one of the rockets he help to build back in Coalwood, WV, and decided to write an article about the boys in Coalwood. He called and told his editor, and he said she was under-impressed. He wrote it anyway and faxed it to her the next day. She called him and said she loved it and would go with it. When it came out, the phones began ringing and they haven't stopped since. The sequel (he says equal) will be titled A COALWOOD CHRISTMAS, and there is talk of a TV series. The paperback (titled October Sky) has already climbed to No. 1 on the bestseller list, and when Homer was on the DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW, he said half the people in the audience claimed to be from WV, and the other half claimed to know someone in WV. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this down-to-earth author, space engineer, West Virginian, and insightful human being. The only problem was that I stood in line for almost an hour and still didn't make it to the head of the line to get my book autographed. I was allowed, however, to leave it, and the author will autograph it, mail it to the library, where I can retrieve it.
A Father and a Fan
My letter to your husband was quite sincere - I absolutely believe that wonderful riches await us in space (both near and farther away) if we can summon the courage and conviction to go after them. As for October Sky, my wife, children (two girls ages 9 and 6 ) and I saw the movie two months ago. I thought it was a wonderful picture. The true test for me, amusingly enough, of inspirational "family" oriented films is the number of requests for candy and soft drinks, made by my kids, during the course of the show. Believe it or not, there were no requests made during October Sky.
Now shortly after we saw the film my wife purchased the book for me. We are fortunate enough to be taking a family trip to Italy in early June and I therefore decided to wait to begin the book until we leave. My wife advised me earlier this week that she has begun the book and that I will need to purchase "my own" copy should I desire to being reading on the outbound flight. My wife, is a voracious and to some extent picky reader. She has said repeatedly over the past few days that she loves the book.
Caped Vixen
This is a truly marvelous story so take everybody with two legs. As a friend said, "You can even take your grandmother!" Don't miss this sweet gem of a film, it's the stuff of life. Stick around at the end for real home movies of a bunch of the actual people portrayed in this film. This is a SPECIAL treat.
|
|
|
Fan Mail - July 07, 1999