Alan Shepard was the brashest, cockiest, and most flamboyant of America’s original Mercury Seven, but he was also regarded as the best. Intense, colorful, and dramatic, he was among the most private of America’s public figures and, until his death in 1998, he guarded the story of his life zealously.
Light This Candle, based on Neal Thompson’s exclusive access to private papers and interviews with Shepard’s family and closest friends—including John Glenn, Wally Schirra, and Gordon Cooper—offers a riveting, action-packed account of Shepard’s life.
"One of the finest books ever written about the space program. On nearly every page of this fine book, I learned something new. Neal has given Shepard's unique humanity a chance to emerge from not only the legend that NASA built around him but the one he built around himself. Alan Shepard, it turns out we didn't know you, after all. Light this candle, indeed." —Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys
“Wonderful and gripping ...The can’t-put-it-down story of a modern swashbuckler determined to conquer the universe whatever the risk. In Thompson’s hands, an amazing life, the ultimate American life, comes alive so exquisitely.” —Buzz Bissinger, New York Times bestselling author of Friday Night Lights
“Why don’t you fix your little problem and light this candle.” —Alan Shepard to NASA technicians, at liftoff for America’s first manned spaceflight
“Just what a biography should be: sharp, evocative, and brisk.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Thompson provides the fullest portrait [of Shepard] yet. Does much to illuminate the life and personality of perhaps the most private and complex member of the Mercury Seven.” —Library Journal
About the Author
Neal Thompson is a veteran journalist who has worked for the Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, and St. Petersburg Times. He has also written for numerous national magazines, including Outside, Men’s Health, Backpacker, and the Washington Post Magazine. Thompson lives with his wife and their two sons in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches at the University of North Carolina and is writing a book about moonshine, NASCAR, and the South. Visit his website at www.nealthompson.com.
Ever since my high school English teacher suggested I had some talent, I'd dreamed of the writer's life. In college, a drunk-Irish professor/priest further stoked the dream, and in 1988 I found myself happily employed as a newspaper reporter. Twenty years later, I'm still a professional writer, but the circumstances have changed. Instead of working 9-5 (more like 6-6, most days) at one of the nation's sadly struggling newspapers, I'm self-employed. That means I'm writing, thinking about writing, or feeling guilty about not writing, all the time. Writing is my hobby, my career, my obsession. If not for my family, I'd likely be writing (and reading, and probably drinking) day and night. I'm not proud of that. It's a problem, trying constantly to improve my work (and boost my income), while striving to be a good dad, husband, person. Balancing work against the rest of my life seems to get harder all the time.
One problem I've often wrestled with is finding the right balance between the artistic and the structural. I've felt strongly that writing can't be a strictly artistic endeavor. Like the construction job I'd held as a teen, working as a mason's helper, the simple formula is usually brick by brick by brick. Of course, there's room for art in masonry, too (see: Colliseum), and that's where the formula gets complicated. One lingering question of my career has been: how can writers create something meaningful and compelling, but remain productive and efficient? I've dedicated my career as writer (and teacher) to filling my toolbox with the best tools, my playbook with the best tactics.
Fifteen years as a journalist flew by like this: Philadelphia Inquirer (a year); Roanoke Times & World-News, in southwest Virginia (3 years); St. Petersburg Times (less than a year - marriage intervened); The Bergen Record, in northern New Jersey (3 years); and the Baltimore Sun, which I left in 2002, after 5 years. I've also written for Outside, Esquire, Men's Health, Backpacker, Sports Illustrated and the Washington Post Magazine, and newspapers such as the Christian Science Monitor. And I've taught workshops and seminars, incuding three years with the Great Smokies Writing Program at the University of North Carolina-Asheville.
As a journalist, the issue of art-slash-poetry versus structure-slash-efficiency was often governed by a daily deadline. I had no choice but to submit the best-built story by 6 or 7 p.m. If I started early enough in the day, I could add some flair, a bit of me. But usually, the stories were merely functional, and therefore ephemeral, and this often troubled me. I bristled against the limits of daily journalism, the narrow just-the-facts focus, and frequently nagged editors to let me write longer, more meaningful stories, the kind of "narrative non-fiction" found in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Outside, and Sports Illustrated. Similarly, as an author, I've aspired to achieve the kind of non-fiction storytelling on display in such books as Friday Night Lights, The Perfect Storm, and Seabiscuit.
During my final two years at the Baltimore Sun, I began researching my first book, Light This Candle: The Life & Times of Alan Shepard, America's First Spaceman (Crown, 2004). I then left the Sun and moved to North Carolina to research and write my next book, Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels and the Birth of NASCAR (Crown, 2006). That was followed by Hurricane Season: A Coach, His Team, and their Triumph in the Time of Katrina (Free Press, 2007). In mid-2010, I'm working on my fourth book, a biography of the eccentric world-traveling cartoonist Robert "Believe it or Not" Ripley. [See reviews, excerpts, photos and videos at NealThompson.com]
This review is from: Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard (Paperback)
I can't imagine the vast amount of research that went into this biography, but it was well worth the time and effort. The book is packed with detail, humor, and antecdotes that help the reader to really understand the good, the bad, and the ugly about Alan Shepard. The writer manages to invoke admiration for Shepard even when describing him at his very worst. This was definitely (along with Chris Kraft's autobiography) one of the most interesting and entertaining accounts of a legendary figure in America's race for the moon.
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This review is from: Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard (Paperback)
I found this bio to be well written, and informative on not only Shepard, but also the Mercury Seven and the beginnings of NASA. It charts the mans abilities, and also his shortcomings, and well evokes the period of the space race. I thoroughly enjoyed it, highly recommend it and recommend the From Earth to the Moon miniseries as a good companion piece.
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