The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown [Hardcover]

Theodore Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

Jesse was raised in a poor but loving family and instilled with values of dignity, education, and perseverance even in the midst of deeply entrenched segregation. A star athlete and an outstanding student, Jesse turned a deaf ear to everyone who told him that he should attend a black college, or that he didn't stand a chance of becoming a Navy pilot. Undeterred, he made his way from the deep South to the campus of Ohio State University. Then, defying the wishes of his family and an unwritten rule of racial exclusion, he qualified for the Navy reserve and was accepted into the Naval Air Training School at Glenview, Illinois-the first black man to enter the program. On March 18, 1947, late morning, like a bird, like a kite, like an impossible dream, Jesse Leroy Brown was flying.

While other applicants-many from upper-class backgrounds-were weeded out of the rigorous qualifying process, Jesse forged ahead, often directly in the face of shameful racism and hostile superior officers. When he arrived at the cradle of Naval aviation in Pensacola, Florida, in 1947, he knew the washout rate was high and the odds were stacked against a man openly referred to as "nigger." But Jesse Leroy Brown had lots of practice beating the odds, and now he was on his way to becoming the first black man to fly a Navy fighter and make a carrier landing. He was also on his way to becoming an American hero over the battlefields of Korea.

The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown is both a stirring story ofa man breaking historic racial barriers and a thrilling tale ofNaval carrier aviation. Award-winning author TheodoreTaylor, a master of adventure on land and sea, has written abiography that will speak to boththose who love the excite-ment of combat in the air ... and to anyone who has everdreamed the impossible dream.Jesse Leroy Brown was raised in the segregated South by a hard-working, loving family who instilled values of dignity, education, and perseverance. A star athlete and an outstanding student, he was determined to become a Navy pilot, although such a thing was unheard of for a black man in the 1940s. Undettered, he entered Ohio State University, rather than a black college, and was able to qualify for the Navy reserve and was accepted into the Naval Air Training School at Glenview, Illinois. Despite racism, and open hostility by many of his superior officers, he finally reached his goal, flying a Navy fighter plane and landing it on a carrier--the first African American ever to do so.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the late 1940s, when every aspiring black pilot had heard of the army's Tuskegee program, Jesse Leroy Brown set his sights on becoming a navy aviator. An outstanding student and top athlete, the 17-year-old's ambition was met with a combination of incredulity and resistance. Yet, at a time when Jim Crow laws were rampant, Brown managed to break the color barrier to become the first black U.S. Navy pilot. Taylor (The Cay) puts his considerable narrative skills to good use in tracing Brown's path from his youth in poverty-stricken Palmer's Crossing, Miss., to his eventual induction into the heady and dangerous world of carrier aviation. Taylor based much of his research on interviews with those who knew Brown and on personal letters from more than a half-century ago. He doesn't skimp on the indignities Brown suffered. At flight training in Illinois, the "Negro" stewards who served student pilots took an immediate offense at his presence and treated him rudely, giving him only half portions. Elsewhere, Brown and his wife and their best friends, a white couple, were refused service at both a black and a white restaurant, and wound up eating in their car. Although readers may balk at first at Taylor's supposition of Brown's innermost thoughts?"Just forget my color. Please. Just teach me"?the overall effect is an engaging and intimate glimpse of a young pioneer who desperately wanted to earn his aviator's wings. Brown's death in Korea at age 24 makes his story and his accomplishments all the more poignant. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-More than a biography, this is a thrilling story of naval aviation and combat. In 1926, Brown was born to sharecroppers in the segregated South. An outstanding student and star athlete, he dreamed of becoming a Navy pilot. His parents valued education and hoped that their son would attend a black college, but Brown, single-minded in the pursuit of his dream, entered Ohio State University in September 1944, and went on to become the first black man to fly a Navy fighter and make a carrier landing. On December 5, 1950, Brown's plane was shot down over Korea and all attempts to rescue him failed. YAs will be touched and inspired by this story of a remarkable man who faced adversity with courage and dignity and persevered to fulfill his dream. Taylor's nonfiction is as absorbing as his fiction.
Carol Clark, formerly at Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380976897
• ISBN-13: 978-0380976898
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,959,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Theodore Taylor has written several award-winning books. The Cay won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and was also made into a movie.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The thoughts of the widow of Jesse Leroy Brown, October 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown (Hardcover)

As the widow of Ensign Jesse Brown, the U.S. Navy's first black pilot, I have been hoping and dreaming for 48 years that the story of his life would be told. At last, "The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown," by Theodore Taylor, an Avon Book, is on the shelves around the country. Impoverished, son of a Mississippi sharecropper, Jesse never knew the luxury of running water, electricity or an indoor toilet. But he fell in love with aviation as a child, pausing to look up from his cotton hoe at passing planes to say, "That's where I want to be." Advised to enter a Negro college, at 17 he enrolled in Ohio State (99 percent white) as a personal challenge and was told by an ROTC instructor that "no nigger would ever sit his ass in a Navy cockpit." Jesse proved him wrong and became a carrier pilot, a daily up-hill struggle over his complexion throughout almost two years of training. Against all regulations, knowing he could be kicked out, Jesse married me in October, 1947, simply because he "needed me." We were deeply in love. There were about 600 cadets at Pensacola and his was the only black face. The pressures were overwhelming. He'd fought racism all his life. He hid me in town. We saw each other occasionally, and a year later we were blessed with Pamela. Jesse was killed in combat over North Korea in December 1950. From time to time writers contacted me and Jesse's brothers wanting to tell the story but none were qualified until Navy veteran Ted Taylor came along. We worked closely with him for more than a year. I and my family are very proud of "The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown," a dream come true.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Found - Another Forgotten Hero, April 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown (Hardcover)

The travails of the First Marine Division in its "advance in the opposite direction," at the Chosin Reservoir in 1950 are legendary. Almost unknow to them then, and to millions of Americans now, a lone black naval aviator was giving his best effort to cover their escape. He died in the line of duty doing what he had dreamed of accomplishing all his life. He was Jesse Leroy Brown. Never hear of him? Neither had I until I read his biography written by Theodore Taylor. This story cannot be simply classified as African-American History. History of the American Spirit more aptly describes the chronicle of a young black boy who set his sights high then struggled to hit the target. Readers should be prepared to be uplifted in the same manner that they were when first reading about Davey Crockett, "Unsinkable" Molly Brown or Seargent Alvin York. This is human drama and adventure at its finest.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real hero for our times., November 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown (Hardcover)

Few people have ever heard of black aviator, Jesse Leroy Brown, except for a line here or there in a rare history book. While I like a biography to have footnotes, this book is one that anyone can pick up and enjoy. Taylor tells the story through letters, retellings of conversations Brown had with friends and relatives, and he even makes up a few. While that in itself would be outrageous, by giving Brown a "voice", we get to feel his pain, fear, joys, hopes and loves as we journey with him from his childhood to his untimely death. As a black woman, I know that there are far too few heroes for young people to emulate, Brown is one we can all learn a lesson from. It was this man's quiet determination to do what he knew he could, regardless of the racial discrimination, he would run into, that we learn how to be strong.

Taylor makes you feel as if you are in the cockpit with Brown, or pushing dollies in the freight yard with his vivid descriptions (I have a fear of flying and this book did not cure it). I was most intrigued with Brown's letters, but did find it uncomfortable to read his wife's diary, the one flaw I found in the book.

But a debt of thanks is given to Taylor, because had he not written this full biography of Jesse Leroy Brown I would not have had the honor of meeting this humble man. So if you have someone who loves history, aviation or needs a real black role model (not a Tiger Woods or a Michael Jordan), put this book on your Christmas or Hanukkah list.