A Legend Passes

RIP pilot extraordinaire Chuck Yeager, 97. Here are highlights from an article at newsmax.com, edited by yours truly: He joined the Army Air Corps in 1941, three months before America entered WWII, and started as a mechanic before undergoing flight training. Based in England, he began flying combat missions in 1944 and downed a German Me 109. He was shot down behind enemy lines in March 1944 but avoided capture with the aid of the French resistance. He resumed combat and was credited with 12.5 aerial victories by the war’s end, including downing five German Me 109s on a single day and four FW 190s on another. He booked his place in history as a test pilot when in October 1947 he was the first to break the sound barrier, earning him the title of “The Fastest Man Alive.” The aircraft, nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis” in honor of his first wife, hangs in the National Air and Space Museum in DC. His accomplishment was depicted in the iconic 1983 film The Right Stuff, based on the book by Tom Wolfe. Sam Shepard received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Yeager. Yeager would go on to set numerous flight records, but most of his career was spent as a military commander directing US fighter squadrons throughout the ’50s and ’60s. He retired from the Air Force in 1975 as a brigadier general having logged more than 10,000 hours of flight time in more than 300 different models of military aircraft. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973, and he kept flying into his later years, even breaking the sound barrier at 89. Thank you, sir.

Here’s an amusing tidbit from an article at NM, edited by YT: “Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue selected AOC as “employee of the month” earlier this year after she fanned the calls for a boycott of the ethnic food manufacturer and spiked its sales tenfold… 1000%.”

From an article at nypost.com, edited by YT: Is this a trend? Bob Dylan, 79, has sold his entire catalog of songs, more than 600 copyrights, estimated worth $200-$300 million. Recently, Stevie Nicks, 72, sold hers for about $100 mil. I wonder what they plan to do with the money.

Yesterday John mentioned that he’d read and liked my novella, Class of ’67, but he’d wanted more. He especially liked that it was set in part in the very area where we were speaking. I told him it would not have been written if not for the first Corona lockdown. He dubbed writing a gift. Thank you, sir.

On rare occasions intelligence is at its max. I resisted the urge — not easy for the anal — to do the book shop at its regular time, as there wasn’t a ray of sunshine in sight and I would have had to spend at least half the session in the car. By the time the display was set up it was an hour-and-a-half later than usual — but there were patches of blue that let in an occasional bit of warmth, and during the last hour of operation the sun was largely unblocked. And people made nice runs on kids and Russian books. The odd sales of the day were Pat Conroy’s The Prince of Tides and the Gregg Hurwitz thriller Don’t Look Back. My thanks to the buyers.

My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE

FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts

Read Vic’s Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza