posted 08-15-2010 10:06 AM               

For the most part the text is finished. Currently he and the publisher are working on inserting the photos into the text, attaching appropriate captions to the photos and formatting the product.

I've read the book several times in an editing type mode and the book is a very good autobiography. It covers his full professional life not just the NASA years and I think stands very strong with many of the others out there.

Bill has totally pulled out the stops on getting good photos and graphics into the book. Some are photos many have seen but many are new ones from his days in the Air Force and his Thunderbird tour.

The way the photos are added in the text and not in a single photo section really adds to the story since they come up at the appropriate time. There are a lot of photos but not so many that they become distracting or make the book an illustrated version.

This is a preliminary of the front cover of Bill's book. The final version may change.

posted 08-16-2010 02:52 PM               

I do not believe there are any current plans of limiting the book to only 1,000 copies. Communications I've had with Col. Pogue about his book suggest he does want a future wider publication. He did want to get something special out there mostly so his large and extended family can have his story in a first hand account. He has done all the writing himself and is a gifted writer with a strong since of history and good humor. I believe there is still a hunt for a general publisher once the product is final.

posted 12-13-2010 07:34 PM               

Don Boggs of Boggs Space Books will have a period of time where he will be the exclusive seller of the 1,000 signed and numbered copies. Those of you who know Don's business know many of his signed new releases come with no to very little additional cost. This book promises to be the same.

Currently Bill is not working with a general publisher. He hopes to have one sometime in 2011. His long time agent (Barbara Bova) for his other books died of cancer in September of 2009 and also his wife Jean to a long term illness in December of 2009. The personal setbacks ended the not yet finalized deals in the works at the time.

To finish the writing and editing stage of the project he decided to first release this private edition, all hand signed with one of his Skylab flown pens and ink so his expanding and extended family can have his story and we collectSPACE followers will have a chance to grab our own personal copy.

Below is an extended text of a blurb Walt Boyne has written for Bill's book. What will end up on the book cover will be greatly cut down due to space but Bill said he would like me to share the full text with you. Alan Bean, Ed Buckbee, Michael Collins and of course Ed Gibson and Jerry Carr of Skylab 4, SLM-3 have also weighed in for this special printing. I will share any additional text as I can.

It is not enough that Bill Pogue is a superb pilot, combat veteran, scientist, teacher and record-setting astronaut -- he is also a master story teller. His autobiography "But for the Grace of God" is one of the two best memoirs ever written by an astronaut, and should be required reading for every pilot or astronaut aspirant.

In his book, Pogue packages his adventure filled life into easy-to-read inspiring tales that move swiftly from page to page, and are filled with his reverence for his family, God, nature and mankind. Whether engaging the enemy in combat, flying metal-bending aerobatics with the Thunderbirds, or setting all records for distance and endurance in the wonderful Skylab -- a true space station of its time -- Pogue speaks clearly with a compelling authority but a modest tone.

This is a keeper, a book that all parents should provide their children as a guide to how good life can be when it is lived to its fullest.

Walter J. Boyne
Author/Historian,
Former Director, National Air & Space Museum
Enshrinee, National Aviation Hall of Fame

posted 12-21-2010 10:18 AM               

Very nice praise coming from the man often considered to have penned the best astronaut memoir.

Bill Pogue has had an amazing career: Oklahoma farm boy, Korean war fighter pilot, elite Thunderbird slot and wingman, mathematical whiz, eighty-four days of science as a Skylab astronaut, and much more. Competently and directly, he guides the reader through a half-century of technological advance, always in the forefront, but modestly so. A super read, a gem of a book.

Mike Collins, Command Module Pilot, Apollo 11

posted 12-21-2010 05:48 PM               

Numbered and signed edition (limited to only 1,000 copies) and signed with a Fisher Pen Flown on Skylab! Pre-order by email.

For decades, Bill Pogue has been an unsung hero in the astronaut corps. Korea war aviator, test pilot, U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds solo and slot pilot, Air Force Academy Professor, Apollo 7, 11 and 14 support crew member, Skylab IV pilot, Boeing Space Station Freedom consultant and more, Pogue has seen it all and escaped death on several occasions.

Now his story is told in an extensive account of a unique life and in a unusually modest fashion. Many never told before behind the scenes stories.

Soar with Eagles Publishing | Rogers, AR | 2011 | 1st edition limited to 1,000 signed copies | SB | illustrated w/diagrams and photos | Signed with Fisher pen part #SEB12100051-208, Serial #1259 flown on the U.S. Skylab space station from May 14, 1973 to February 8, 1974 for 110 million miles in space during 4,100 orbits by author Bill Pogue, 6x9 inches, 334pp

posted 12-22-2010 01:15 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
Is it still paperback only or will there be a preferable h/b signed edition?

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A HB would be more desirable but Bill is interested in keeping this printing to the lowest cost he can while retaining a high quality. Seeing the price structure on this it is doubtful he will do anything other than recover his out of pocket costs. His primary interest is getting something written in his words on his life experiences for his family. I've read the text several times at different stages of editing and I think the book is extremely well written and holds strong reader interest. Easily one of the better written space memoirs and I believe I've read them all so far.

Although the final price isn't set yet all of the prices I've heard are quite low. I think it will be an excellent chance to pick up an excellent M.G.A. autobiography at an extremely good price.

posted 01-07-2011 01:13 PM               

$29.95 plus shipping, available exclusively from Boggs Space Books. You can’t even get one directly from Bill Pogue at this point. Boggs Space Books is the go to location to secure your personal copy.

Soar with Eagles | Rogers, AR | 2011 | 1st edition limited to 1,000 SIGNED copies | SB | illustrated w/diagrams and photos | New | SIGNED with Fisher pen part # SEB12100051-208, Serial # 1259 FLOWN on the U.S. Skylab space station from May 14, 1973 to February 8, 1974 for 110 million miles in space during 4,100 orbits by author Bill Pogue, 6x9 inches, 334pp

posted 01-10-2011 01:27 PM               

He also covers interesting periods like his pilot training, his days in the Korean War and two years as an elite pilot in the USAF Thunderbirds that will interest the pilots out there. I even like his early years stories, they help frame for the reader who he is.

posted 01-12-2011 07:54 AM               

Pogue is the only astronaut I've actually met. He was the Astronaut Encounter speaker when I visited KSC in December 2002. He gave an exciting and witty presentation, and was especially concerned about reaching out to the youngsters in the rather sparse audience. He enjoyed shaking hands and saying hello afterwards. No autographs though, since those were reserved for the paying guests at the subsequent astronaut luncheon.

posted 01-19-2011 08:30 PM               

1. This was the largest pre-order and first week follow-up of any signed book we have carried. Hansen's First Man was #2 in initial popularity.

2. Since this is a numbered edition, there may be interest in knowing that Bill reserved the first 50 copies for family and close friends.

posted 01-21-2011 08:02 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MCroft04:
Can I assume that the ink was also flown?

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posted 01-21-2011 07:20 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Boggs SpaceBooks:
Yes, the books are signed with one of the pens which flew on Skylab with Pogue and Bill is using the original ink which flew inside the pen!

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posted 01-22-2011 02:41 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Boggs SpaceBooks:
Yes, the books are signed with one of the pens which flew on Skylab with Pogue and Bill is using the original ink which flew inside the pen!

---

He already donated all of his personal pens to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation for scholarship auctions. A flown pen with a new filler wasn't acceptable to him nor was a filler flown on later shuttle missions. He eventually tracked one down but was told the filler is "dead". A quick swab of the roller ball freed the 38 year old built up goo and the pen was off and writing smoothly. The pen did last for the full 1,000 book run with ink to spare.

The pen used was not up for only Skylab 4 but was launched with the lab and came down on Skylab 4. One of the duties for the last crew was to scavenge everything they could from the lab and bring it home.

Just another one of those little pieces of space trivia that can fill a brain cell that would otherwise house "useful" information.

posted 01-23-2011 04:46 PM               

The writing style is extremely concise - "I did this, which resulted in that, and later I went there". This is well suited to explaining complex events, whether they be threshing hay, recovering a spinning plane or planning one's life. The writing has an immediacy that makes it seem like Bill is talking directly to the reader - there are no hints of a ghost writer cleaning up things behind the scene. At first the writing seems simple but it soon emerges as a clear and direct way to communicate stories and ideas.

posted 01-25-2011 08:12 PM            

Here is a photo Jim Vertrees shared with me and asked to be posted here.

posted 01-30-2011 02:33 PM               

I met Bill at the November 2010 Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Autograph and Memorabilia Show and we had a good long conservation (at the cocktail party). My impression of Bill from that conversation fits well with the how he portrays himself in the book.

posted 02-08-2011 07:55 PM               

My parents' families both come from the rural midwest, and Pogue's philosophy and writing style remind me a lot of them and their siblings. As I read his story, I kept thinking about how much he represented everything that is right about America's Heartland.

I, as others have noted, particularly enjoyed the stories of Pogue's childhood and often laughed out loud (sometimes to my wife's distraction). It was arguably my favorite part of the book. However, his firsthand accounts of missions over Korea and flying with the Thunderbirds also made for fascinating reading, especially given that they included many close calls.

I actually found Pogue's passages about Skylab (especially when including his references to it in the portions of the book covering life after Skylab) to be more satisfying than I had expected. I'm certain, however, that my expectations for this had been set rather low by some of the postings in this string.

Might I recommend that people who want to get a full, satisfying serving of Skylab read "Homesteading Space" by David Hitt, Owen Garriott, and Joe Kerwin? After that, adding Pogue's experiences is kind of like icing on the cake. At least it was for me.

posted 02-11-2011 10:52 PM            

At first I found the writing style hard to grasp, but it is best remembered that Pogue has written this book for his grandchildren, so the book is deliberately a traverse through his many experiences. Without that in the back of your mind, some anecdotes might seem a bit pointless (with no disrespect intended).

The Skylab section is disappointingly short; conversely the section dealing with his mid-1970s trip through Nepal, India etc with Stu Roosa is disproportionately long and sometimes repetitive, so in some respects I think the right balance hasn't quite been struck between "chapters" in Pogue's life. To me, anyway.

You get the impression Pogue is most proud of his days with the Thunderbirds (1955-7), and this is a truly interesting part of the book.

Throughout, he gives a sense of the dangers he often faced, and how he was lucky to have survived some moments.

He deals sensitively with his divorce and the death of his first wife in 2009, unlike other astronaut bios (no, I won't mention names) where sections about the "new wife" border on being disrespectful to the first wife who lived the astronaut years with the author, and which sometimes make the reader squirm uncomfortably.

Not my favourite astronaut bio of all time (to me, everybody has been attempting catch-up with Collins after Carrying the Fire in '74), but it was certainly an enjoyable book and well worth reading. I am glad I bought it, and the autographed copy will sit proudly amongst my collection.