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Author Topic:   A Long Voyage to the Moon (Bowman)
ColinBurgess
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posted 11-28-2018 12:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Our collectSPACE colleague Geoffrey Bowman has been heads-down for some time now, putting together a biography of Apollo 17 command module pilot Ron Evans for the University of Nebraska Press Outward Odyssey series.

In conducting his deep research over the past several months, Geoffrey has gained the support, trust and assistance of Evans' family, friends, fellow pilots and other astronauts, and with their cooperation has been putting together a truly masterful and very readable manuscript, which I am thoroughly enjoying. It certainly shines a light on an intriguing aviator/astronaut about whom so very little is known.

The task — if I can call it that — Geoffrey has found to be both interesting and enjoyable, and while the manuscript is getting closer to completion, he also keeps making new and vital contacts. Either Geoffrey or I will let you know publication details once they are known to us.

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 07-09-2019 06:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
After careful consideration, the title of my biography of Ron Evans will be "A Long Voyage to the Moon." The publishers always have the option to change it, but I believe this title reflects Evans' naval career and the many hurdles in the path of anyone seeking one of the few Apollo seats to the Moon.

I confess I am a few months behind schedule on the manuscript, but for the best of reasons: when I started this deeply satisfying project, I had not expected to find so many willing sources of information. I have also found that a one-hour interview takes at least six hours to transcribe... and that's after setting up and conducting the interview!

I think I can promise a few revelations and surprises to satisfy the space aficionados, but mostly I'm hoping to show what it took for one man to travel from the dustbowl era of rural Kansas all the way to flying a spaceship in lunar orbit.

I think it's a story worth telling, and in due course I hope others will think it worth reading.

Gilbert
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posted 07-10-2019 02:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Gilbert   Click Here to Email Gilbert     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Looking forward to it.

Kite
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posted 07-10-2019 04:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kite     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
So am I.

dom
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posted 11-03-2019 09:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dom   Click Here to Email dom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Geoffrey might be too modest to say it but his work on the Evans biography has been reported on by the Belfast Telegraph!
Former solicitor Geoffrey Bowman has always been fascinated by space travel, met Neil Armstrong and is now the biographer of Ron Evans who was involved throughout the Apollo programme. Ivan Little reports.

Philip
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posted 11-03-2019 10:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philip   Click Here to Email Philip     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Looking forward to this...

Evans, the CMP orbiting the Moon with five mice, requested the Omega Speedmaster of the CSM Heat Flow Experiment aboard "America" as a memento of the flight... of all things!

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 11-04-2019 05:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Former solicitor Geoffrey Bowman has always been fascinated by space travel, met Neil Armstrong and is now the biographer of Ron Evans who was involved throughout the Apollo programme.
As usual, newspapers don't ask you to check the text before publication, hence a few obvious errors in the text (for instance, I have met Buzz Aldrin) but it occurs to me to point out to American readers that on this side of the pond a "solicitor" is a lawyer. (When I arrived at my hotel in Pasadena for Spacefest in 2014, I was made to feel REALLY welcome by a large sign outside the entrance saying "NO SOLICITORS."

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 01-07-2020 05:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am pleased to report that my biography of Ron Evans of Apollo 17 is now complete. I actually typed the magic words "THE END" on New Year's Eve, 2019, although some tidying up has been necessary.

As with any book, there will now be a long period of proof-reading, corrections and filing-off of rough edges. However, the story is "in the can."

This has been a fascinating experience which opened many doors. I have received contributions from two schoolfriends of Ron's, ten naval aviators who flew with him, astronauts from Groups 2, 3 and 4; and from every surviving member of Group 5. There are also contributions from many key figures associated with Apollo 17, some of whom I have met before and was able to meet again at Spacefest last August. A definite highlight of my visit to Arizona was meeting and having dinner with a remarkable lady, Jan Evans, together with her daughter Jaime and son-in-law Lamar.

As well as telling the story of the only non-test-pilot to fly as CMP on an Apollo mission, I have examined aspects of the whole of Project Apollo as experienced by Ron Evans. I think it is not only a fascinating story, but also a very human story.

Kite
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From: Northampton UK
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posted 01-08-2020 03:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kite     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Congratulations Geoffrey on completing your book, can't wait to read it.

ColinBurgess
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posted 01-08-2020 03:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's good; it's VERY good. A tremendous biography of the last lunar CMP. More on a release date once it is known.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-14-2021 04:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A Long Voyage to the Moon: The Life of Naval Aviator and Apollo 17 Astronaut Ron Evans by Geoffrey Bowman
As command module pilot of Apollo 17, the last crewed flight to the moon, Ron Evans combined precision flying and painstaking geological observation with moments of delight and enthusiasm. On his way to the launchpad, he literally jumped for joy in his spacesuit. Emerging from the command module to conduct his crucial spacewalk, he exclaimed, "Hot diggity dog!" and waved a greeting to his family. As a patriotic American in charge of command module America, Evans was nicknamed "Captain America" by his fellow crew members.

Born in 1933 in St. Francis, Kansas, Evans distinguished himself academically and athletically in school, earned degrees in electrical engineering and aeronautical engineering, and became a naval aviator and a combat flight instructor. He was one of the few astronauts who served in combat during the Vietnam War, flying more than a hundred missions off the deck of the USS Ticonderoga, the same aircraft carrier that would recover him and his fellow astronauts after the splashdown of Apollo 17.

Evans's astronaut career spans the Apollo missions and beyond. He served on the support crews for 1, 7, and 11 and on the Apollo 14 backup crew before being selected for Apollo 17 and flying on the final moon mission in 1972. He next trained with Soviet cosmonauts as backup command module pilot for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission and carried out early work on the space shuttle program. Evans then left NASA to pursue a business career. He died suddenly in 1990 at the age of fifty-six.

  • Hardcover, 424 pages
  • Nebraska (Nov. 1, 2021)
  • ISBN-10: 149621319X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1496213198

dom
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posted 04-14-2021 05:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dom   Click Here to Email dom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Nearly there...

Rick Mulheirn
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posted 04-15-2021 05:32 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Pre ordered!

Altidude
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posted 04-15-2021 02:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Altidude   Click Here to Email Altidude     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Can we buy a signed copy directly from you?

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 04-15-2021 05:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I don't see why not, but I'll have to check the logistics with the publishers. If you're in the States, the cost of transatlantic postage will be quite high. A book-plate option would be much cheaper, but I'm not going to close any doors at this stage. I'm sure something can be worked out!
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
Pre ordered!
Thanks, Rick! I hope you enjoy reading Ron's story as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it!

Altidude
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posted 04-15-2021 09:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Altidude   Click Here to Email Altidude     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Maybe someone could coordinate a book signing for the cS community. If not, I’d be glad to pay the shipping to get a signed copy.

tothemoon
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posted 04-15-2021 10:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tothemoon   Click Here to Email tothemoon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Oh yeah, a bulk stateside cSer signing order would be awesome! And congrats to you Geoffrey! I've been pondering getting into the children's book game, and writing a thoroughly researched biography is a phenomenal achievement! Well done!

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 04-16-2021 01:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you! If you want to try writing children's books, why not look at "Astronaut Al Travels to the Moon" by my Outward Odyssey colleague Francis French? I think it must take a lot of care and skill to write such a book without "talking down" to the readers, who would immediately spot such a blunder!

"A Long Voyage..." is essentially a book for adults and explores a number of issues, including military combat, which are probably not really suitable for younger readers, but I wouldn't want to put a lower age limit on it.

garymilgrom
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posted 04-16-2021 02:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for garymilgrom   Click Here to Email garymilgrom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Pre-ordered. Apollo 17 has long been a favorite and this looks great.

Blackarrow
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posted 04-17-2021 06:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks! I'm only sorry it's still quite a long wait.

FFrench
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posted 05-01-2021 11:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
If you want to try writing children's books...
Thanks for the kind words about the Al Worden children's book, and — like everyone else here — I am really looking forward to this Ron Evans biography!

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 08-05-2021 04:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Less than three months to publication. "A Long Voyage..." is, of course, being published in the United States by University of Nebraska Press; and will be available on both sides of the Atlantic through Amazon.

However, for potential readers on this side of the pond, Nebraska's distributor for the UK and Ireland will also be supplying copies to Waterstone's booksellers, so anyone who still likes to buy books in actual bookshops has that option, too. I might not be able to resist the temptation myself...

Kite
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posted 08-06-2021 04:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kite     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Geoffrey, is there still an option of buying a signed copy through you? If so could you give us any details please. Looking forward very much to reading your account of Ron Evans's life. Thank you.

Jurg Bolli
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posted 08-06-2021 06:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jurg Bolli   Click Here to Email Jurg Bolli     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
And how about the bookplate option mentioned above for some of us on the other side of the Atlantic? That would be great.

Blackarrow
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posted 08-06-2021 07:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Kite and Jurg, I really appreciate your interest. I have been raising a number of points with the UK distributor, and I will make a point of asking about your enquiries. I think the simple answer to both of you will be "yes" but let me sort out the logistics. I will advise further shortly.

Kite
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posted 08-07-2021 03:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kite     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks Geoffrey.

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 10-05-2021 06:16 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am happy to report that copies of "A Long Voyage to the Moon" arrived at the University of Nebraska Press warehouse at the end of last week, and Nebraska have confirmed that everything remains on track for publication on 1st November.

I have received a series of marketing advice emails today and have a few points to follow up, but for any of you in the UK and Ireland who have been kind enough to ask about signed copies, I am looking at several options, but there is always the option of posting a copy to me with a return SAE.

For anyone in the United States, I have been approached by an on-line bookseller, and we are considering options which would minimize the transatlantic transport costs. More on this shortly.

I can't deny that I'm excited at the prospect of holding a copy of the book in my hands.

Jurg Bolli
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posted 10-05-2021 08:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jurg Bolli   Click Here to Email Jurg Bolli     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great news, cannot wait.

Kite
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posted 10-06-2021 02:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kite     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You have every reason to be excited Geoffrey as it is a marvelous achievment and I am really looking forward to getting my hands on it too.

emilyc1978
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posted 10-20-2021 04:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for emilyc1978   Click Here to Email emilyc1978     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here is my review.

I quite enjoyed this, although it made me enormously wistful — Evans should be cutting up with us at events. Gone way too young.

Kite
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posted 10-21-2021 04:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kite     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What a great review. Whets the appetite.

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 11-01-2021 12:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well, here it is....Publication Day!

Ironically, I still haven't received my "author's copies." As best as I can determine, they have been held up by the lack of ships and lorries on both sides of the Atlantic. I would be interested to hear from anyone on this side of the pond who gets hold of a copy. I suspect the poor author might be the last to see a copy of his own book!

Blackarrow
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posted 11-13-2021 04:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
At last! After their own "long voyage" across the Atlantic, copies of the book have finally negotiated the transport problems and made landfall. Twelve days after the official publication date, I took delivery of a heavy box yesterday.

It was a great feeling cutting the tape, peeling back the cardboard... and seeing Ron Evans smiling up at me.

Space Cadet Carl
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posted 11-17-2021 11:31 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Space Cadet Carl   Click Here to Email Space Cadet Carl     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Congratulations on your new book about Evans. As professional a pilot as Ron was, he also found moments of fun, childlike exuberance during Apollo 17. Just listen to the onboard voice recorder of him during the Saturn V launch or him saying hello to his family in the middle of his trans-earth spacewalk.

fredtrav
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posted 11-18-2021 09:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for fredtrav   Click Here to Email fredtrav     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
If you have yet to buy the book, University of Nebraska Press has a 50% off sale right now. The promotion code is 6HLW21. It applies to most if not all their books so you can also get some of the other books in the Outward Odyssey series(or other titles they sell.

spacehiker
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posted 12-01-2021 02:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spacehiker   Click Here to Email spacehiker     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Geoffrey, would you be willing to sign my copy of "A Long Voyage to the Moon?" I am based in the UK and would of course include return postage.

With thanks.

ea757grrl
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posted 12-02-2021 04:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ea757grrl   Click Here to Email ea757grrl     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I received my copy yesterday. This is a bigger book than I anticipated, and it tells a great story of an interesting life, a story that has gone too long untold.

Congratulations, and many thanks, to Geoffrey for a much-needed contribution to spaceflight biography. Anyone who loves the story of Apollo needs this book.

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 12-02-2021 12:41 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Many thanks for your kind comments, much appreciated! With Ron Evans, you get not just the more familiar Apollo story, you also get the less familiar combat story. Ron wasn't a test-pilot. Did his combat experience help him to be the only non-test-pilot in Group 5 to fly to the Moon?
quote:
Originally posted by spacehiker:
Geoffrey, would you be willing to sign my copy of "A Long Voyage to the Moon?"
No problem! I'll email you.

carl walker
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posted 12-12-2021 05:55 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for carl walker     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Received your book Geoffrey, and congrats on being a published space author!

(Yes, I know you were in "Footprints in the Dust," but you know what I mean!)

Blackarrow
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From: Belfast, United Kingdom
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posted 12-13-2021 10:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks, Carl. I hope you enjoy Ron's story.


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