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Author Topic:   Into That Silent Sea (Burgess, French)
Naraht
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From: Oxford, UK
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posted 06-26-2007 10:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Naraht   Click Here to Email Naraht     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
This will be the first of ten books overall that tells the entire social or human history of space flight. It's a massive undertaking, and one which we hope will be widely supported.
As a social historian myself (eighteenth and nineteenh centuries) I was very excited to read this. However, I was then a little disappointed to read that it focuses on the stories of the astronauts rather than on the social history of the space program more broadly. Many more people worked for NASA than just the astronauts, and many more people were involved in the space program besides NASA employees. Will the forthcoming books in the series take a wider or less anecdotal focus?

I apologize if my question has been answered elsewhere. Given that I only found this thread today, I am already a little behind!

DavidH
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posted 06-26-2007 11:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DavidH   Click Here to Email DavidH     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A full description of the series can be found here.

In response to your question, I imagine the answer will vary from volume-to-volume. "Into That Silent Sea," which is rather "astronaut-heavy" in that regard, still has excellent anecdotes from the ground-bound. The book on space probes, on the other hand, will almost certainly skew very heavily away from astronauts. (Though Jay could speak to that better than I.)

Our Skylab volume is still a ways from publication, but we collect many many stories from "behind-the-scenes" folks for the book.

FFrench
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posted 06-26-2007 05:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Naraht:
Many more people worked for NASA than just the astronauts, and many more people were involved in the space program besides NASA employees.
I share your thoughts that there was (and is) indeed far more to NASA than astronauts, who often get a disproportionate amount of attention. I also agree fully that there is a need for wider-scope books or book series that explore this area. There are already some great ones out there - some of which I include amongst my favorite books - but there is certainly room for more.

When it comes to "Into That Silent Sea," we made a conscious decision, which we spell out in the introduction, to focus on a specific area. In this book the Cold War, the human urge to explore, the Space Race, are all interesting backdrops, but backdrops only, to a very human story. That is, a variety of very different kinds of people, from hugely different backgrounds and experiences, all found themselves at some time in their lives sitting on top of a rocket ready to launch.

There are spacefarer stories in the book that have been well-explored before, but I'd say that there are some real surprises in there even for people who think they know the whole story. Certainly, people heavily involved in the programs at the time have told us so.

I've had a similar initial response to yours with some recent books that focus on astronauts. For example, when reading about Andrew Smith's "Moondust," I at first thought, 'do we really need another book on moonwalkers?' As it was, it was a fresh, enjoyable, engaging take that I am glad he wrote and that I read. Despite a preponderance of books out there on astronauts, I think there is room for new ones when they take a fresh approach.

This has particularly been brought home to us with the recent losses of Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra and Andrian Nikolayev, all of whom told us stories they had never before committed to print. It made us feel even more glad that we had talked to them and captured these stories when we did. They may otherwise have been lost forever.

You also only mention "NASA" and "astronauts" - I should point out that this book does give equal weighting to the cosmonauts, and explores their lives in equal detail, with a number of first-hand interviews. This is an area that really has not been explored too much, particularly in US-published works, in this way. Some readers and reviewers have really enjoyed this fresh aspect of the book. It also allows interesting comparisons with the astronauts that gives new light to their stories.

Where some of the spacefarers had already passed away, or where it enhanced the story to take it in new directions, we have extensive parts of the book based on talking with people such as Dee O'Hara and Jim Lewis - giving great credit to the "supporting cast" who, I agree, did vital but often unsung work. I think you'll also find the Apollo 1 chapter in our second book, "In The Shadow of the Moon," very interesting, as it is based almost entirely on the recollections of many non-astronauts associated with the program, talking about that sad day.

As David says, other books may take a slightly different tack. I have had the pleasure of reading his Skylab book draft, and I have to say, his marriage of recollections from both astronauts and others in the program is astoundingly good, and probably far more what you are looking for in a social history. It's an incredible book.

I should clarify something - our book is not, as you suggest, based on 'anecdotes,' which suggests tale-telling and thus a level of historical inaccuracy. While we do include much first-person material, and a good amount of opinion by and about the spacefarers which keeps the stories very personal, we worked very hard to ensure a level of technical and historical accuracy. Where opinion or conjecture was given, we tried to make that clear, and state whose opinion it was. The book is not a nuts-and-bolts technical / engineering book, nevertheless we tried very hard to bring some dry engineering that was vital to the story into vivid life.

It may be that this book is simply not going to be one that interests you - goodness knows, so many great books come out every month we all have to be picky -but if you do end up reading it, I'd be really interested in hearing here what you think of it, and if your opinion changes at all after you do.

Jay Gallentine
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posted 06-26-2007 08:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jay Gallentine   Click Here to Email Jay Gallentine     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
To expand on David's comment a bit, the volume on space probes has only a couple of astronaut cameos. I thought it might be interesting to look back at the Surveyor program while Pete Conrad and Al Bean are on the Moon attempting to remove pieces of Surveyor 3. That's about it.

I'd be happy to cover the work in more depth - albeit in another forum, so as not to detract from the topic of Colin and Francis' excellent work.

Thank you everyone, for your interest in the series! We are working hard to deliver great stories!

Naraht
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posted 06-27-2007 04:52 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Naraht   Click Here to Email Naraht     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you all for your kind responses. Come to think of it, I did read and enjoy "Moondust," so I agree that there's room for new views of the astronauts and their story. I'll look forward to taking a look at this series and seeing what it has to offer.

leslie
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posted 06-28-2007 09:19 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for leslie   Click Here to Email leslie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am not a space exploration historian, I simply am drawn to these amazing achievements. My appetite for reading is voracious and I am not usually given to praise, but this book has captured well the atmosphere of what those times must have been like. The pioneering spirit of the personnel involved, the competitiveness, the stretched egos and, more than anything else, with the obvious benefit of hindsight and amazing achievements that have followed, the simplicity and rawness of those missions. The title is somewhat haunting and I find myself repeating it on occasion. It is so apt!

How so much drama could be crammed into fifteen-minute flights is aptly described, and done very well. I have done several network radio interviews relating to a space exhibition of mine and in each one have mentioned "Into That Silent Sea" when responding to the questions related to Apollo. Without Mercury and Gemini and all the original personnel, Apollo would never have happened! I continued with "It is impossible to describe the history in a few words, but here is a new book that does exactly that..."

Annoyingly, for any person with similar interests, the reader will think when reading "Into That Silent Sea," that this is a book they should have written. Why? The skill is in the simplicity of presentation. The facts have been well documented previously, but the way they knit together well with the wonderful stories and first person narrative make it easy and satisfying book to read. I offer congratulations, wish the book huge success and, I suspect, there will be another to follow in the not too distant future. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Larry McGlynn
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posted 07-07-2007 10:14 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Larry McGlynn   Click Here to Email Larry McGlynn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just finished "Into That Silent Sea" and I must say that I enjoyed it. Now maybe I am biased, because I provided Francis and Colin with a minor portion of some research that I did a while back, but I truly enjoyed the book.

Let me start out by saying that I have heard many of these stories first hand by several of the people interviewed in this book. I have tried to read the book with the unpracticed eye of a space history novice. The book turned out to be very interesting due to it's personal historical perspective. I have read many books about the dates and times of the major events in space flight, so this book has been an enjoyable alternative due to it's intimate knowledge and style.

The only criticism I have for Colin and Francis concerns some of the content and it's relationship to the rest of the book's material. While this book is about people and specifically says so in the introduction, I would make the suggestion to the publisher to add a subtitle to the book cover that briefly states the series is a societal review of space flight history from the personal perspective of some of the participants in the events. That might avoid some of the confusion I ran into while reading the "Two Wally's" chapter as well as resolve other such potential conflicts in future books of the series.

However, I did find the "Mercury 13" interviews and material excellent. The chapter provides compelling and sympathetic look at what happened to these women through the review of contempory documents as well as the eyes of one of the more prominent participants in the Lovelace exams. The relationship to the pioneering space flights, however tenuous, is handled by the author's use of the interview material to provide a counterpoint between two participants who unavoidably became involved in the greater social issue of gender as criteria for early astronaut selection. Also, the chapter did prove to be a good precursor to Valentina Tereshkova's story. As such, I regard my criticism as minor.

The Russian chapters were of particular interest, because they provided me with much new personal information from the cosmonauts. As someone who has primarily focused on the American side of the space race, I was fascinated to read of the personal struggles and triumphs of the early cosmonauts through their eyes.

I do think "Into That Silent Sea" accomplishes what it has set out to do. The book explains with a very comfortable style of writing, a very personal history of space travel. There are a lot of people, like me, out there gathering stories for future generations, but have never really put pen to paper (or in this modern age, finger to key). Therefore, I can greatly appreciate the fact that the authors have put together a good record of personal remembrances from the people who were there and I look forward to the next installment in the series.

FFrench
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posted 07-08-2007 12:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks, Larry, for those thoughts, which are much appreciated. It's always really interesting to hear thoughts such as this. I'm really glad you enjoyed it so much. As someone who has worked with the people in the book a lot, you're someone who would have instantly known if we'd got it wrong.

quote:
Originally posted by Larry McGlynn:
I would make the suggestion to the publisher to add a subtitle to the book cover that briefly states the series is a societal review of space flight history from the personal perspective of some of the participants in the events.

There is indeed such a subtitle: "Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight" - which appears in bold at the top back of the book cover, and is used by listings such as Amazon as a subtitle. It's the name of the book series of which this book is one part.

ColinBurgess
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posted 07-17-2007 07:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Having just returned from a six-week vacation trip it was a true delight to read so many wonderful posts about "Into That Silent Sea" from fellow enthusiasts such as Bruce, Leslie and Larry. Thanks to all of you, and to all of those who have not only posted reviews on Amazon, but have praised the book in private correspondence and online messages. To date, every review at every Amazon site has been attached to a five-star rating, which is heartwarming to someone who grew up in the years of the Space Race with a passion that remains undiminished 45 years later.

FFrench
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posted 07-22-2007 08:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It was a great pleasure to meet Kevin (cS: Kevmac) on Friday and give you a little tour of the museum (including the secret space stuff in the basement!). You picked a good day, as not only was the new Lunar Rover and Apollo spacesuit exhibit being installed, but Scott Carpenter was in town to do some media at the museum a day before his public appearance. Knowing you were not able to stay in town for the next day, I am glad you had the opportunity to meet behind the scenes.

It was also a pleasure, Kevin, to sign my very first copy of "In The Shadow of the Moon" for you, as well as the copy of "Into That Silent Sea" you brought with you - I hope you enjoy them both!

Carpenter's visit was a nice opportunity for me to talk again with him about the books, as he and daughter Kris Stoever had been of immense help in our research, fact-checking and proofreading.

Kevmac
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posted 07-30-2007 10:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kevmac   Click Here to Email Kevmac     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Francis, I want to thank you publicly for your hospitality and generosity in taking time out of your very hectic day to give me a tour of your museum and introduce me to Scott Carpenter (see picture above).

I've been reading "In the Shadow of the Moon" this past week and have almost completed it. I'm taking my time getting through it, as the book is like a very fine wine that can't be hurried through. I need to take small sips of each chapter and savor the history and never-before-told personal stories.

I've read almost every astronaut book that's come out over the last 35 years and this edition, along with my soon-to-be read "Into That Silent Sea" tell the manned space flight story like no books before. My thanks to you and Colin for putting these memories to paper and sharing them with the rest of us.

Again, thank you for your time during my visit to San Diego.

FFrench
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posted 07-31-2007 02:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wow! That's the kind of feedback I am sure every author hopes to hear about their book. Thank you so much for sharing it, and I am really pleased you are enjoying it so much! That's quite a compliment!!

tegwilym
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posted 07-31-2007 04:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tegwilym   Click Here to Email tegwilym     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Kevmac:
...the book is like a very fine wine that can't be hurried through. I need to take small sips of each chapter and savor the history and never-before-told personal stories.
I'm reading "Silent Sea" right now on the bus to and from work. I get to work drunk, then arrive back home drunk again in the evening!

Lots of stories I've never heard. Yeah, I'm one of those guys that has read everything also.

heng44
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posted 08-04-2007 03:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just started reading in 'Into That Silent Sea' and it is very well written. Great stories!

Francis and Colin could very well be among the most important spaceflight historians of this moment. And certainly among my favorites...

It is also nice to see so many familiar names in the acknowledgements...

Congratulations, guys! Can't wait for 'In The Shadow Of The Moon'.

heng44
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posted 08-06-2007 01:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am nearing the end of 'Into That Silent Sea' and find it most enjoyable and well-researched. But a question is nagging me since I read the account of the Wostok-5 launch. It is described how cosmonaut Bykovsky had a full bladder before the lift-off, which kept getting postponed. He wanted to get out and relieve himself. But he was about to start a flight a several days: how was waste-management handled in the Wostok spacesuits? I assume these could not be taken off during the flight. And did he get out and relieve himself or didn't he?

FFrench
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posted 08-06-2007 03:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by heng44:
I am nearing the end of 'Into That Silent Sea' and find it most enjoyable and well-researched.

Wonderful to hear that, Ed - thanks! For someone with your depth of knowledge to say such a thing means a lot to me.

quote:
It is described how cosmonaut Bykovsky had a full bladder before the lift-off, which kept getting postponed. He wanted to get out and relieve himself. But he was about to start a flight of several days: how was waste-management handled in the Vostok spacesuits?

Ed, you have actually found one of the very few typos that Colin and I discovered in the final manuscript after publisher copyediting, but that it was too late to amend as the printing presses were rolling. The correct translation of Bykovsky's comment was "open the spacesuit," not "open the spacecraft." Colin and I have it listed with the publisher to be amended for any future editions of the book.

That you found it and it raised this question gives me much confidence that we have found the typos.

As to your larger question - the waste-management capabilities of the Sokol SK-1 spacesuit - I have some paperwork at home I could dig out. But firstly, someone here might have a copy of a book I don't have - Isaac Abramov's "Russian Spaceasuits" - that may provide a far more comprehensive answer than my records.

heng44
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posted 08-07-2007 12:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for the reply, Francis. "Opening the spacesuit" sounds very plausible and answers part of the question.

Another thing which 'bothers' me is the remark by Paul Haney in the foreword about the Voskhod-2 crew contacting mission control at the Cape and Leonov talking with them in good English. Does he remember that correctly? I can't recall hearing that story before, but it could be in the Kranz or Kraft books. But in the final chapter it is said that Leonov did not speak English before the ASTP mission. Just something that I was wondering about...

ColinBurgess
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posted 08-07-2007 02:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ed, if I was a lot shyer in personality you'd see my head down and the embarrassed shuffling of feet, and an oft-repeated "Aw, shucks!" But I'm an Aussie (which says a lot!).

All joking aside, compliments such as this mean a lot to both of us after years of hard work and diligent research on the books, and particularly when they come from someone so highly regarded in the space community, not only for your awesome work in collating and sharing space images, but for your extraordinarily beautiful and evocative paintings. Many thanks, Ed - much appreciated.

Regarding those Haney comments, I've asked Paul if he can elaborate for me. In his foreword he says he's not sure if it was Leonov, but I doubt that it could have been any of the other four Voskhod guys. I'll let you know what he says.

heng44
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posted 08-07-2007 03:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Colin and Francis, now it's my turn to blush.

freedom7
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posted 08-07-2007 11:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for freedom7   Click Here to Email freedom7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
"Into That Silent Sea" was the best space history I've read. I'm a librarian and I immediately ordered a copy for my library as well.

FFrench
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posted 08-07-2007 11:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wow. That's such wonderful feedback - thank you. Colin and I were just talking also about a review that appeared on the Amazon page for the book from David Shomper, a Gemini and Apollo engineer. Feedback like yours and his means so much.

FFrench
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posted 08-09-2007 12:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jay Gallentine:
it reports four copies of 'Silent Sea' circulating in our system. Two are checked out right now

Great, thanks - good to hear libraries are buying them and people are reading them!

One thing I was particularly pleased to learn is that a copy resides in both the NASA HQ library in DC and the Korolev Museum in Russia.

FFrench
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posted 08-12-2007 12:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Colin and I have been given an extreme honor.

The engineer who was in charge of the Q-ball cover retraction system for Apollo 11 liked this book so much, he decided to give us both a piece of the Q-ball cover - the very, very top of the stack as the Saturn V sat on the launch pad. It survived launch, but with some wonderfully historic scorching all over it!

We're both deeply honored by this gift.

DavidH
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posted 08-17-2007 08:54 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DavidH   Click Here to Email DavidH     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm no good at doing reviews. But I promised I would write one, so here goes.

I have finally, shamefully late, finished reading 'Into That Silent Sea' by Francis French and Colin Burgess, the first book in the Outward Odyssey series.

Almost a year ago, I had the pleasure of having dinner with Francis French at a local German restaurant, and we discussed our respective entries in the Outward Odyssey series. I told him that, while I was probably unusual in this respect, my thoughts on writing about the era covered in Silent Sea and its follow-up, In the Shadow of the Moon, was "Better you than me."

Yes, it would be a fun sandbox to play in, and, yes, it would be very cool to get to talk to the people you would have to interview to write the book.

But, it's been done, you know?

The Gemini period perhaps a bit less so, but how many books and movies and documentaries have covered the Mercury and Apollo programs? No, I'll stick with something a bit more fresh, like, say, Skylab, thanks.

But the great thing about Silent Sea is that it is, in fact, fresh.

For the people who are relatively new to these stories, it's a wonderful introduction. To say that it's thorough is putting it lightly. Yes, the Mercury program is covered completely. The book includes everything you need to know. And it's told in a way that's interesting not only to a technical crowd but also to a lay audience, because, ultimately, Silent Sea is the story of the people who lived the history. These people who have become legends, after all, were people. Where did they come from? What were they like as children? How did they get to the point where they were making history? What was the experience like for them? What was it like living with having done something so exceptional? With the aforementioned thoroughness, Silent Sea paints portraits of the individuals behind the history.

Silent Sea is unusual, as well, in that it's not a history of the Mercury program. It's a history of human spaceflight from 1961 through 1965, regardless of where those humans were from. The U.S. and Soviet programs are covered in a combined chronological account, presenting the stories side-by-side as two components of one historical period. As a result, even for someone who is fairly well-versed in the history of NASA spaceflight, Silent Sea is an extremely informative volume, filling in the gaps from the far side of the Iron Curtain.

Even in telling the more familiar stories, however, Silent Sea keeps it fresh. No matter how many times a reader has heard these stories, they haven't been told in quite this way before. Yes, the major events are covered in detail, but they're shown as seen through different eyes, people like Dee O'Hara and Wally Funk. If you know who those people are, you know why you need to read the book. If you don't know who those people are, that is why you need to read the book.

ColinBurgess
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posted 08-17-2007 11:11 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As commonly known in space forums, I was given the great honour of being appointed series editor for the Outward Odyssey set of ten books to be published over a five-year period by the University of Nebraska Press. While I co-authored the first two books, I was also given the task of seeking out suitable authors for the remaining eight books in the series - a pleasurable but responsible task which is happily nearing officially sanctioned completion.

I was absolutely delighted when David Hitt and Owen Garriott accepted the task of taking on the much-anticipated Skylab book. Soon after, Joe Kerwin became another eager participant, joining in as a third author. David has lavished praise on "Into That Silent Sea," so by way of reciprocating I must point out that I have now read the unedited manuscript submitted by this august trio, and I can report that it is not only brilliant, but is destined to become the definitive book on this remarkable program. David is a proven and superb writer with a great turn of phrase, and he has both organised and pulled this book together in magnificent fashion. Meanwhile Owen and Joe have not only been involved in the writing process, but have solicited the assistance of the other six surviving Skylab crewmembers, making this a must-read book for any spaceflight enthusiast. Additionally, Alan Bean graciously offered his personal diary notes from his Skylab mission, fully reproduced in print form in the book. This particular volume is, I believe, destined to become a classic among non-fiction space books, and David will deservedly suffer a chronic case of writer's cramp from signing copies once it is released next year.

This may be perceived by many as a mere case of mutual online admiration, but as David has offered up so many kind words on the first book and the series as a whole, then in my capacity as series editor I feel it only fair to pre-warn you that one of the finest books on human spaceflight ever written is now undergoing the early phase of the publication process in Nebraska. I, for one, can't wait to see it on the shelves, and it will certainly not be the last such book to bear David's name.

DavidH
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posted 08-17-2007 01:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DavidH   Click Here to Email DavidH     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Goodness, now the book is destined to be a disappointment. "Yeah, it was OK," our eventual readers will no doubt think, "but it certainly didn't live up to Colin's build-up for it."

Seriously, thanks so much for the kind words. I am rather pleased with what we have; which is not pride on my part, other than at having been blessed to have worked with some wonderful people.

FFrench
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posted 08-18-2007 12:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'd like to add my thanks for your very kind words, David - and to second Colin's words about the book, having read a draft of it. It is incredible, with unique personal insights from key participants, and will make people appreciate the Skylab program in a whole new way.

ColinBurgess
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posted 09-01-2007 07:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just a thank you note to regular cS poster Tom Gwilym for posting his wonderful review of this book on Amazon. It is always a pleasant surprise for both of us to read such reviews, and it is amazing to note that we have garnered 14 positive reviews for the book thus far, all of them giving it a five-star rating. Thank you for the nice surprise review, Tom, and thank you once again to everybody for this wonderful support, which is truly appreciated.

icarkie
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posted 09-03-2007 03:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for icarkie   Click Here to Email icarkie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well guys, it took me a couple of months to get through one of the most interesting books I've read (while on my holiday I got stuck into it).

I've read some good space books over the last few years (Colin's "Fallen Astronauts" is one as he knows) but this one is up there in my top five.

I like the bit when Titov went round to the Glenns for a BBQ.

Well done Colin and Francis, keep up the good work.

FFrench
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From: San Diego
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posted 09-04-2007 12:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks so much for those amazingly kind words, Ian! Great to hear.

mdmyer
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Posts: 900
From: Humboldt KS USA
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 09-05-2007 12:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mdmyer   Click Here to Email mdmyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
And the great reviews keep coming in. Check out this one.

FFrench
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Posts: 3273
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 09-07-2007 04:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks, Mike, for posting that link to that review. Evans, the reviewer, does a number of reviews and articles for the National Space Society, many of which end up on Space.com, so it is great to see that review.

FFrench
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Posts: 3273
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 09-25-2007 02:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A very nice and unexpected surprise at work today - Jim Lewis, the helicopter recovery pilot for Liberty Bell 7, dropped by my workplace out of the blue today, along with his wife. Jim is a familar face to those who attend the Sims-Hankow autograph shows, and it was a great pleasure to see him again.

His story is one told in "Into That Silent Sea," and he signed a couple of copies for my co-workers who had the book. One, another helicopter veteran, didn't have a copy yet, but immediately made a dash to the store to get Jim to sign one - it was fun to listen to them exchange piloting stories. He definitely made the guy's week.

mdmyer
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Posts: 900
From: Humboldt KS USA
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 09-25-2007 08:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mdmyer   Click Here to Email mdmyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jim and his wife are some of my favorite people to talk to at the autograph shows. They told me that Jim was working on an autobiography so maybe he will be signing a book for you some day Francis.

FFrench
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Posts: 3273
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 09-26-2007 03:27 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Indeed, I'm really looking forward to a Jim book too - we concentrated most on his Liberty Bell 7 stories, but he has a wealth of great space experiences all throughout his career. For example, looking at the Apollo 9 CM here, he was telling me about when he was inside it when they were doing fit checks, lowering an LM onto it... he was involved in the space program all the way through to space station design.

bruce
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Posts: 927
From: Fort Mill, SC, USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 09-27-2007 05:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for bruce   Click Here to Email bruce     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Earlier this week, my new issue of Air & Space magazine arrived and, lo and behold, just across the page from a review for The Right Stuff DVD set, there is a fantastic review for "Into That Silent Sea"! From someone who spent 20+ years in the music biz, I'd say that's almost like having a 5 star review of your LP in Rolling Stone magazine right next to a Beatles reunion article!

Congratulations Francis and Colin!

FFrench
Member

Posts: 3273
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 10-01-2007 03:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks Bruce! It was a wonderful surprise for us too - we'd been hoping for a review in there, but after so much time I'd given up. So to get a whole page, and then to also have it reviewed by Martin Collins (space history curator at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum) was wonderful!

For those of you who don't get the magazine but who may wish to browse it at the magazine stand, it's on page 80 of the November issue - which also happens to have some great X-15 stories, Soviet space program history and other good stuff.

ColinBurgess
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Posts: 2125
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-10-2007 03:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
For those who might be interested, Kraig McNutt has recently conducted an interview with Francis and me for his space blog site (which is quite an outstanding site and well worth the visit). In this we discuss different aspects of our book "Into That Silent Sea" and how it came about.

TellingHistory
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Posts: 63
From: Franklin, TN 37027
Registered: Dec 2007

posted 12-13-2007 10:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for TellingHistory   Click Here to Email TellingHistory     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just a reminder, I've interviewed the authors (French and Burgess) on my web site - Today in Space History - and am posting a series of Q/As on a daily basis. There have been four posts so far and the first one starts here.

Their responses to my questions are just as engaging and interesting as the book itself. I'm reading thru the book again and love it even more the second time.

FFrench
Member

Posts: 3273
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 12-16-2007 10:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you Kraig - that is also great to hear, that it is good on a second read.

After the recent visit of Jim Lewis, the guy who "dropped" Liberty Bell 7 (see the September 25 photos on this thread), it was very nice to receive a visit from the guy who picked it up again - Curt Newport. Curt was kind enough to tell us some great spacecraft recovery stories for the book, and kind enough to sign some copies too for general sale.


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