posted 12-29-2004 10:45 PM               

For Pete Conrad, it was all about the Ride. Whether he was flat-hatting 50 feet off the deck going Mach 2, test flying every supersonic jet the Navy developed (and some they shouldn't have), orbiting the Earth at almost 20,000 miles per hour, or just redlining his gold Corvette on a country road outside of Houston... this was a man who loved pushing the envelope.

Still, he wasn't exactly the Squeaky Clean Poster Boy NASA Astronaut. He wasn't tall, dark, and movie star handsome. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind - especially to the men in the white coats who tried to turn him into a lab rat, and grounded him as "unsuitable for long-duration flight" when he pushed back.

But they didn't call Pete Conrad the Comeback Kid for nothing. As a boy, he swept up at a local airfield for a couple of bucks a day, and learned to fly. He overcame dyslexia, and landed a Navy scholarship to Princeton, and became one of the country's elite test pilots at Patuxent River. And he learned the hard lesson of washing out of the Mercury Program, to come roaring back - flying two Gemini missions, walking on the Moon as Commander of Apollo 12, commanding the first Skylab, and developing the first re-usable commercial rocket, logging more time in space than all the original astronauts combined.

And, oh yeah, First American in Space / Navy fighter jock Al Shepard called him the best stick-and-rudder man he ever saw. The pilot every guy at NASA wanted to share an after-work drink and a joke with, chase a skirt or two with, and you better believe, would kill to fly with.

Rocketman is a personal story almost too amazing to be true. From his speed-of-sound entrance onto this planet, to Pete Conrad's comet-like exit off-roaring down the highway on his Harley Davidson, this is the surprisingly candid insider's view of the greatest Ride in history: America's glorious race to the stars, as seen through the eyes of the real Space Cowboy.

Nancy Conrad was married to Pete Conrad for the last ten years of his life. A writer, artists' representative, and interior designer, she has left her mark on some of the world's most prestigious publications, galleries, and homes. She co-founded Universal Space Networks with her late husband, is a member of the President's Circle of the National Academies, and serves on the Board of Directors of the California Air and Space Center at NASA Ames. She also co-founded the Community Emergency Healthcare Initiative, a program designed to decrease the number of preventable injuries and deaths occurring in emergency rooms around the world.

Howard Klausner is a screenwriter and Creative Director of an Entertainment Technology Group. A lifelong student and devotee of all things space, his most prominent big-screen credit is Space Cowboys, starring Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones. He is currently developing a television series about the space program. Mr. Klausner lives on Orcas Island, Washington with his wife and three daughters, where he writes aboard an old wooden sailboat, staring long and often at the Moon and stars.

posted 02-10-2005 02:13 AM            

Rocketman is a personal story almost too amazing to be true. From his speed-of-sound entrance onto this planet, to Pete Conrad's comet-like exit off-roaring down the highway on his Harley Davidson, this is the surprisingly candid insider's view of the greatest ride in history: America's glorious race to the stars, as seen through the eyes of the real Space Cowboy.

posted 02-10-2005 07:08 AM               

I miss Pete terribly and wish his wife much success with this book.

I received a gift in the mail from Pete and found out later the same day of his passing. Many tears were shed. I am forever grateful to my friend Bill O'Donnell and his wife Vicki for getting me to be introduced to these wonderful folks and resulting friendship.

posted 02-12-2005 12:46 PM               

During our filming of "From the Earth to the Moon" we had to replace our Pete Conrad with another actor in mid-filming. The new actor, being rushed, received permission to call Pete to get into the character more.

posted 04-27-2005 10:42 PM            

Nancy, in an effort to bring some of Pete's spirit to her in-person signings, has chosen to personally emboss each book she signs in person with this stamp, if the person wishes it. She has chosen at this time to do this only for in-person signings, and that is of course her right.

posted 04-28-2005 03:51 PM            

If Nancy had chosen not to personally design, create (at her own expense) and use this embossing design for these in-person events, this would never have been an issue. Everyone would have been 100% satisfied with their signed book.

posted 04-28-2005 07:48 PM               

All of a sudden it was announced that Leonov was going to attend the UACC show in Burbank and that gave me the chance to have it signed by Leonov. I hooked up with a great guy that agreed to handle the book for me. It worked out well. Which do you think a collector of signed books would rather have, a copy of "Two Sides" signed by Scott or one signed by both Scott and Leonov?

Now enter "Rocketman". I ordered it knowing that Nancy would sign the book and that was okay. Now there is the chance of having Pete's "portrait and signature" added. Yes I know it is a stamp and it is not like Pete really signed the book but to me it is something that I would like to have.

Why cancel my order? Because that seems to be the only way of getting the book signed with the stamp in it. I am going to have to purchase a copy from eBay or wherever they may show up and I will probably have to pay extra for it. I even asked if Nancy could personalize the book to me by adding "To Mike. I hope this book brings Pete to life for you. Nancy Conrad". I thought that was a great inscription but I can't take credit for it. David Levy wrote the biography of Gene Shoemaker, and when he signed the book for me he added "I hope this book brings Gene to life for you".

The people that show up for the signings will get something special. They get to listen to the lecture.

posted 04-29-2005 03:14 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by mdmyer:
Why cancel my order? Because that seems to be the only way of getting the book signed with the stamp in it. I am going to have to purchase a copy from eBay or wherever they may show up and I will probably have to pay extra for it.

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Or better yet, see if you could drum up widespread support for a book signing held near you. Like the Cosmosphere! I'd bet they'd be thrilled to host a book signing. Call New American Library and complain about the selection of book tour cities! Cite regional interest and enclose figures predicting likely attendance in your area.

And by all means, consider how your remarks here might affect Pete's widow.

I haven't read "Rocketman". I have no commercial stake in the sales. I hope nevertheless it's a great story, for Pete's sake, embossed or not, signed or not.

posted 04-29-2005 06:44 PM               

I think what I need to do is just keep my order in place so that I can get the inscription that I asked for then hope to have the book embossed later. A signing at the Cosmosphere sounds great. Thanks for the idea, I had not thought about that.

quote:

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Originally posted by KC Stoever:
And by all means, consider how your remarks here might affect Pete's widow"

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posted 05-01-2005 06:33 AM               

Well to me the embossing is the same. Pete's gone, unfortunately, and so is his autograph.

Nancy is signing the book as the author with a personal inscription... good enough for me.

posted 05-04-2005 04:08 PM            

"Who was in 1969 the third man after Armstrong and Aldrin to walk on the moon?"

A: John Swigert B: Charles Conrad C: James Lovell D: Fred Haise

posted 05-09-2005 06:42 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by KC Stoever:
I bet if you asked ~very~ sweetly, a cSPACEr might take your book to a signing you are unable to attend and have it embossed for you.

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When AcS met Nancy Conrad AcS asked if Nancy would be willing to sign, personalize, and emboss 3 copies for 3 different people. Nancy said she would be please to do that. Then when AcS requested that Nancy use the inscription of "I hope this book brings Pete to life for you." she remembered reading about that inscription from these forums.

Nancy said she remembered someone from Kansas wanting an embossed and signed book with that inscription in it. She said she wished there was a way that I could have received an signed and embossed copy. At that time AcS told Nancy that one of the books was indeed for me.

AcS said that Nancy was very happy to know that I would be receiving my signed and embossed copy. She said that she was also touched that people would want their books signed with that inscription in them.

AcS said that Nancy is a very nice lady and he was touched by her willingness to sign these three books. AcS said he was glad to meet her in person. I only wish I could have been there. If it turns out that Nancy does a signing in Kansas I will try to attend and thank her in person.

I want to say "Thanks" to AcS for handling the book for me and to Nancy for signing and embossing the book. Signed books make up the largest part of my collection mostly because I find them so rewarding.

posted 05-09-2005 05:44 PM            

I arrived a couple of hours early for the 1:00 p.m. signing, and was directed to gallery 211. Turns out there was an unadvertised event there.... Nancy was giving a talk, along with her co-author, to about five people and 40 empty chairs. C-SPAN was taping it, and the guard wouldn't let me in, saying it was "staff only." But then there was a changing of the guard, and the second guard invited me in, saying it was a public event. But by that time, it was ending. I later learned it had been hastily planned at the last minute, so I forgave the mix-up.

The signing itself was at the gift shop, and the posters announcing it didn't come out until 1:00, so there was no line at all.

posted 05-16-2005 05:34 PM               

I asked after the boys and Jane. There were scores of people around us wielding pens and drinks and photos to be autographed. Not a great environment for careful conversation.

What I heard I'm sure was information I muddled here badly -- about divorce and deaths -- at the time, I quickly offered my apologies to Conrad and that was that. It was wonderful to see him again, after decades, and I am so sorry he is gone.

Here, I am thrilled to learn here that the reports of Jane's death have been, as Mark Twain said, "greatly exaggerated."