Because I Fly: A Collection of Aviation Poetry (Hardcover)

~ Helmut H. Reda (Author) "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth..." (more)
Key Phrases: aviation poetry, aviation poems, glider pilot, Robb Wilson, World War

Editorial Reviews

Review

especially timely now...reignites the joy of flight, something the terrorists tried to destroy...poetry written from 1869 to 2001 -- Star-Telegram, Dec. 13, 2001

Review

Dec. 2002 review from Canadian Soaring Magazine
Review by Barron Hilton

In the field of aviation poetry, Because I Fly consolidates the very "best of the best." To my knowledge, it is the most complete collection of aviation poetry ever published! It is an anthology containing 176 poems, written by 75 poets, covering the time frame commencing in 1869 and ending in 2001. The book is very well organized so that readers can quickly find poems that interest them. There are sections on soaring, the beauty of flight, war and the military, astronauts, classics and even a special section for children. It covers life and death, as well as the personalities of many pilots. The section related to soaring contains 16 poems, including some of the best ever published by Soaring Magazine.

Col.Reda and McGraw-Hill have created a beautiful book which will interest anyone who loves aviation. More concerning this book can be found at www.geocities.com/becauseifly/

As Col. Reda has so eloquently stated, "Most pilots already know, flying is both beautiful and eloquent. The sights we see and the exhilaration we experience are unmatched by those who limit themselves to the ground! I believe pilots are a special breed of people who uniquely experience more than most people do."

I concur wholeheartedly with Col. Reda' s opinion, and enjoyed Because I Fly immensely! (Soaring 20020105)

by Robin Olds, Brigadier General, USAF (Ret)

This book is the most complete, up-to-date collection of aviation poetry ever published. Its sole purpose is to consolidate the "best of the best" in aviation poetry and inspirational verse.

Helmut Reda examined over 115 books and magazines from the United States, England, Canada, France, and Australia. He also investigated over 42,500 hits on the Internet. From his exhaustive research, 170 poems were selected, covering the period between 1969 and 2001.

This collection of poetry serves as an exciting introduction to the experience of flight. These poems will facinate those who know pilots, exposing them to an expanded world, with new dimensions, freedoms, and even a sense of the beauty and dangers of flight.

For pilots themselves, the poems will take your spirits aloft to rekindle your bond with others who fly.

The book is available online at Amazon.com;www.bookstore.mcgraw-hill.com: or www.crsmithmuseum.org; or by calling The McGraw-Hill Bookstore at 1-800-352-3566.

"These thoughts and expressions will open a door for those of you who care but have not been there. For those of you who have watched a distant line of thunderstorms at night and know the splashes of light on the velvet earth below were there just for you; for the even luckier ones who have rushed up the brilliant white cliffs of a huge cumulus, arced over the top, and hurtled down through caverns of cloud, these lines will express your limitless joy in flight and will give voice to the songs of your heart." (Daedalus Flyer 20011213)

Poetry by Kathleen (Kathy) Rodgers, APS Colleyville member, has been included in a new book of aviation poetry, Because I Fly. "This book of inspirational verse is especially timely now," says Kathy. It is a wonderful gift for anyone who loves airplanes and the pilots who fly them. The book is available at the C R Smith Museum; or website www.crsmithmuseum.org; Amazon.com; or through the publisher, McGraw-Hill Bookstore, 800-352-3566.

The book's editor, Helmut Reda, calls Kathy one of the top five aviation poets of the last century. She says, "it's not getting me rich but it's an incredible honor." Besides poetry, Kathy has also written for magazines and newspapers; as well as writing an offbeat novel about fighter pilots, which she is now trying to get published. Kathy and husband Tom have two sons. (American Pilot Spouse's Newsletter )

by Katherine Fly, CNJ Correspondent

Kathy Doran Rodgers never dreamed of being a writer...

Now she has been honored as one of the top five aviation poets of the past century. Several of her poems have been included in a new anthology of aviation poetry, "Because I Fly."

It was published in the fall of last year by McGraw-Hill Publishers.

"Because I Fly" contains 170 poems and is the "most complete, up-to-date collection of aviation poetry ever published," according to editor Helmut Reda's Web site at www.geocities.com/becauseifly.

Rodgers is now working on publishing a novel she has written about a pilot and also is busy promoting "Because I Fly" with the editor and several other poets who contributed to the anthology.

The anthology canb be ordered online at Amazon.com [or] the publisher's Web site at www.bookstore.mcgraw-hill.com.

Rodgers said she is proud of her part in the book of poetry. "It re-ignites the joy and flight and that's something that the terrorists tried to kill on Sept. 11." (Clovis News Journal )

By Terry Lee Goodrich, Staff Writer

As a little girl, Kathy Rodgers was terrified of the rattlesnakes she knew lurked in the grass beyond the front porch of her Aunt Cora's country home in Clovis, N.M.

But the risk was worth it. She sat for hours--garden hoe in hand lest a rattler slither by--and watched in awe when the jets at nearby Cannon Air Force Base lifted off or landed.

"I didn't knew it was dangerous. I just thought it was glamorous," said Rodgers, 43, of Colleyville, a free-lance writer who has written for Family Circle magazine.

So flight has often been a theme in Rodgers' writing as she grew into an adult, an interest fanned by her marrage 22 years ago to an Air Force fighter pilot. Six of her poems have been printed in the recently published Because I Fly (McGraw-Hill, $16.95), a compilation of 170 aviation poems by 75 authors.

The authors include novelist James Dickey, Jonathan Livingston Seagull author Richard Bach and Irish poet William Butler Yeats, who died in 1939.

The book is "especially timely now," Rodgers said. "It reignites the joy of flight, something the terrorists tried to destroy on Sept. 11."

The poetry, written from 1869 to 2001, deals with topics such as aviation as military service, death in flight and a pilot's love for the son he must leave when he travels.

"Even though the Wright brothers didn't take off until 1903, people were still jumping off roofs and flapping their wings," Rodgers said.

One of Rodgers' poems, A Little Boy's Dream, is about husband Tom Rodgers' childhood yearning to become a pilot. The poem, which Kathy Rodgers mounted on a plaque, brought tears to his eyes when she gave it to him as a Christmas gift in 1986.

...when he checks his six and grips the stick and looks in the rear-view mirror, on the face of his helmet visor--The fighter pilot can see the distant daydream boy who'd wanted to fly since he was three.

"She's a piece of work," Rodgers said about his wife.

But as a military wife, Kathy Rodgers learned the flip side of aviation's glamour. That inspired the poem The Lady Let Him Fly about a fighter pilot's widow who never tired to come between him and his love of flying.

"When we were in Tucson, three weeks into the marriage, I heard on TV that a pilot had crashed in the desert," she said. "I was 21 and young, scared. When I heard my husband's car drive up, I burst into tears.

"Every day I lived with the fear that he would not come home. We lost so many friends in crashes," she said.

Air Force Lt. Col. Helmut Reda, editor of the anthology, said he chose Rodgers as a contributor after seeing her poems in aviation publications and on the Internet. His favorites include Because You Have Flown, about a pilot grounded for medical reasons.

"That is a very difficult moment for any pilot, and Kathleen was able to capture the emotion and positively reflect on what he gained as a person because he had flown," Reda said. "She has the rare gift of being able to transcend the medium between pilot experiences and those who have never flown."

These days, Tom Rodgers flies for American Airlines. "Even after what happened Sept. 11, every time he leaves on a trip I don't have that awful fear" when he flew in the Air Force, Kathy Rodgers said.

But the fascination continues. "There's a whole lot of pride and glory," she said. (Star-Telegram )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 1 edition (October 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007138085X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071380850
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #409,332 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the poet in all of us that love aviation, December 26, 2001

By	Kathy Tyler (Newport, KY USA) - See all my reviews

An excellent collection of aviation poetry that contains something for everyone. I recommend keeping the book bedside for some enjoyable light reading every night. The variety and notoriety of the authors is impressive.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is how it feels, your thoughts as print., December 6, 2002

By	Richard L. Barlow (Vancouver, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Everyone who has experienced flight (and those who long to) can relate to the sheer emotion that it evokes, sometimes from deep within ones soul, often pleasant, sometimes not. As you are experiencing the sensations you may frequently be too caught up in the moment to express yourself with words, well, here they are. Yes they are others experiences, but you will find very many which match yours close enough to be called your own. Flight as many other "Romantic" adventures has it's way of engraving itself on your heart. These are exceptional expressions of a wide variety of flight forms, there's something here for everyone. A must for the enthusiasts bookshelves.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive collection of aviation poetry, December 11, 2001

By	Dave English (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

A wonderful gift, a book to dip into and read a little, for years to come. Covering the complete range of pilots and flying, this is the definitive collection of aviation poetry. What makes it great is the time and thought that has gone into the selection and arrangement. The poems are divided into subject areas, there are short biographies, sources, full listing of older anthologies. If you wanted to do this idea just right, and spent years doing it, you could not best this book.