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Author
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Topic: Silver Linings: My Life Before and After Challenger 7 (June Scobee Rodgers)
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-22-2011 02:45 PM
   
Silver Linings: My Life Before and After Challenger 7
by June Scobee Rodgers Twenty-five years after the very public tragedy of the space shuttle Challenger, June Scobee Rodgers has written her private story -- her winding path through childhood poverty, homelessness, and family dysfunction to her teenage marriage and twenty-six years of love and life with Dick Scobee.  This is the story, too, of that heartbreaking day in January 1986 when Commander Scobee and his six crewmates slipped the surly bonds of Earth. That day, June's life took a new direction that ultimately led to the creation of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education and to new love and new life with Don Rodgers. Her story of faith and triumph over adversity will inspire readers of every age. This "Silver Linings" follows a 1996 book by Scobee Rodgers with a similar title: Silver Linings: Triumph of the Challenger 7 Ten years after she watched her husband's space shuttle explode into flames, June Scobee Rodgers, wife of Challenger Commander Dick Scobee, tells the story of the tragedy that changed her life. In Silver Linings: Triumph of the Challenger 7, June recounts her personal journey through intimate pictures and words, revealing how she found joy in the midst of her sorrow and triumph in the Challenger tragedy. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-01-2011 07:50 AM
June Scobee Rodgers will sign copies of "Silver Linings: My Life Before and After Challenger 7" on Feb. 18 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Scobee Planetarium at San Antonio College in Texas. |
hinkler
Member Posts: 573
From: Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 02-28-2011 10:50 PM
My copy arrived in Australia today with a very nice inscription from Mrs. Scobee-Rodgers. A truly inspirational story from what I have read so far.Certainly a book that belongs in any space library. |
cspg
Member Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
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posted 03-01-2011 01:26 AM
quote:
Originally posted by hinkler:
Certainly a book that belongs in any space library.
I'm still trying to figure that one out ("space history" and Mrs Scobee Rodgers)... |
hinkler
Member Posts: 573
From: Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 03-02-2011 07:10 PM
June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Dick Scobee.What is to figure out? And do you really think collectSPACE would be running a thread on the book if there was no connection with space? My exact words were "space library." |
cspg
Member Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
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posted 03-03-2011 01:36 AM
quote:
Originally posted by hinkler:
June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Dick Scobee. What is to figure out?
So? I (still) fail to see how this has anything to do with space (history)... quote:
And do you really think collectSPACE would be running a thread on the book if there was no connection with space?
Again, if the only connection with space is being married to an astronaut, I think it's legitimate to ask to what extent it's relevant to space history. The book may be worth mentioning on collectSPACE, but that doesn't mean it should be in a space library (see below). quote:
My exact words were "space library"
I know. My question is then: what is a space library? And what books should or shouldn't find their places in such library? I view the space library as a set of concentric circles: at the center you may find politicians/decision makers, then managers implementing the decision, then technicians/engineers, then operators(astronauts) etc. etc.. (not necessarily in that particular order) and the further away from the center, the less relevant and interesting the story becomes (it's a subjective notion). In other words you have to draw the line at one point. This book will probably be on the farthest circle- although I'm sure that someday someone who knows someone who has met someone who is a friend of an astronaut will write a book. |
hinkler
Member Posts: 573
From: Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 03-03-2011 03:07 AM
So June Scobee Rodgers book and her unique perspective on the crew, their training and the aftermath of the tragedy have nothing to do with space history? And her book does not belong in a space library? I have a book by Mary Irwin, a book by Evelyn Husband, a book by Don Chaffee and a book by Betty Grissom in my bookshelves. I find all of these interesting and they are part of my space library. Are you suggesting these books have nothing to offer with regards to space history? Read the books and make your own decision. Have you read June Scobee Rodgers book? If not, how can you possibly comment on whether or not it belongs in a collection or not. I am simply offering my opinion, which is obviously different to yours. |
KSCartist
Member Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 03-03-2011 04:16 AM
In my space library are many books about the same events, Apollo, Shuttle-Mir, etc. The reason I have them all is because taken together they paint a richer portrait of those events. Each author brings a (slightly) different opinion and perspective. I as the reader therefore have a better and more complete understanding of those events as a result.A book written by a wife of an astronaut is a desirable addition to the history in my opinion. I have the other books mentioned and I'll add this one as well. |
Henry Heatherbank
Member Posts: 244
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 03-03-2011 06:09 AM
Hinkler raises a good point, and it has got me thinking.I also hold Mary Irwin's "The Moon is Not Enough", Don Chaffee's "On Course to the Stars" and Betty Grissom's "Starfall" in my space library, and I consider these all worthy additions because, primarily, they are about their families' involvement with the space program (through two husbands and one son) and the impact on those families. In a similar vein, I hold Colin Foale's "Waystation to the Stars" and (don't laugh now...) "Dee O'Hara: Astronauts' Nurse" (by Virginia McDonnell, for anyone interested in that scholarly masterpiece!). Again, I see these as worthy additions, even though not written by astronauts. By the same token, I do not hold Story Musgrave's "The Way of Water" or his T-38 book, because to me they sit in a different category and are not directly relevant to the space program, or not as relevant as I would like them otherwise to be. To be REALLY controversial, I put Edgar Mitchell's "The Way of the Explorer" in that category too; not clearly a book about the space program or Apollo 14. Having owned it for 20 years, I still haven't finished it because, frankly, I don't understand it. So I rank the books by Don Chaffee, Betty Grissom and even Mary Iriwn ahead of Mitchell's in terms of "relevance" to the space program. I do not hold Evelyn Husband's "High Calling", mainly because I am equivocal about it, but I doubt I'll be buying June Scobee Rogers' Silver Linings. |
cspg
Member Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
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posted 03-03-2011 06:11 AM
quote:
Originally posted by hinkler:
And her book does not belong in a space library?
Yours maybe, not mine!  There's nothing personal, here. I'm not saying that any space library is better than another. It all boils down to what you're interested in and what do you want to read about (and eventually pay for). quote:
Are you suggesting these books have nothing to offer with regards to space history?
Maybe they do. They're not in my space library.  quote:
Have you read June Scobee Rodgers book?
No, I haven't. The "book description" at the top of this thread is plenty enough for me. quote:
I am simply offering my opinion, which is obviously different to yours.
Indeed. We agree to disagree. No need to make a big deal out of this. And I'm glad to see that not everyone has the same opinion! |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 03-03-2011 08:13 AM
The book "The Time it Takes to Fall" is written by the daughter of an engineer who worked at NASA. This seems to fall into some of the "not worth it" categories discussed above, but it's actually a rich look into the culture of the organization that builds the crafts and sends the people into space. So while it might not be a book from the inner circles it is still worthwhile. My two cents. |
AJ
Member Posts: 511
From: Plattsburgh, NY, United States
Registered: Feb 2009
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posted 03-03-2011 11:31 AM
Nothing like keeping an open mind! I HAVE read the book and it was excellent. It's not a definitive history of the shuttle program, nor is it meant to be. It's a personal book and an interesting one at that. June Scobee Rodgers writes about her childhood, which was turbulent but throughout which she maintained a love of science and fascination with space. She met a great partner in love and life with Dick Scobee. The book offers intimate insights into life within the space program, as a wife and an ardent supporter of spaceflight. Much of the later sections of the book are about the creation and development of the Challenger Centers. I personally enjoy books written by those who had a personal involvement of the space program. One of the things I came away with was a great affection for Dick Scobee the man, as well as a greater understanding of who Christa McAuliffe was as a person. For someone who was a youngster in 1986, this book helped me see some of the crew as more than than the mythical images they have become, but as real people. |
Gilbert
Member Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 03-03-2011 06:07 PM
I own and have read Ms Rodgers first book and I plan to get this one and read it. I have a space library and I'm of the opinion these books and others by wives, fathers, friends, etc. also belong in space libraries. You can't get much closer to a source than a wife or husband, especially if the the astronaut is gone. Also, I have the Life magazine with the Mercury 7 wives on the cover and I'm pretty sure it's a valid part of my space library and collection. |
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