My publicist just alerted me to this review by a young airplane fan at Aeroscale, an airplane modelers site. I absolutely love finding out that I “opened the door” for a reader: If you’re new to the European air war during WWII or want a book to help organize your brain on the subject, this is the book for you. It doesn’t just educate, it inspires. You won’t regret it.
I told my publicist to contact the site and get his information, and put him on the list of reviewers to get books. A review like that is, great, but it's better at a place like that where everyone else visiting is a potential reader.
in the past few years, I've found myself telling people that I've never written anything worthwhile, save for a few song lyrics (always a collaboration anyway).
you gotta KNOW your opinion on pretty much anything means a great deal to me.
I'm glad you're in contact with the kid, which I was actually going to suggest. doing ANYTHING to encourage the next generation to write (especially history) is very important...an authentic mitzvah. and this kid can already write very well.
Just WOW TC. He can’t find a criticism with a microscope. How incredible, you have written a keeper. Your histories, whatever the subject, belong beside our most revered tomes. Your comments on here have convinced me that your research and knowledge about Vietnam are spot on. Information desperately needing to be told. Well done…
"Premier Chronicler of the Air Wars" will follow your name, Tom. The review should help move the book, but if potential readers merely open to any page and begin a sample skim in any of your work they will be swept up by the energetic accounts of everything from the mundane to the death-defyingly glorious. Passed around "Bridge Busters" which was well received. Looking forward to the lesser well known air wars in North Africa. You're doing history some major favors, Tom.
Most of the senior Army and Air Force people who went through the North African campaign said it was "the place where we learned to walk so we could run"
Clean Sweep arrived yesterday. I know nothing on this subject; can't wait to read it! (As soon as I finish The Wide, Wide Sea about Capt James Cook's 3rd and final voyage.)
I'll be very interested to see your response. When writing about a technical subject with lots of detail, all of which the author is familiar with, one is always interested in what those readers who don't have that background respond to and what they get from reading it.
Of COURSE it made your day! A fabulous read from every aspect! My dad and his best friend Joe designed and flew model aircraft growing up… Dad was born in 1916. North American Aviation drafted him into their design department not long after he graduated from high school. He stayed with them his entire career. Joe’s sister Mariana became my mom when Dad proposed in a telegram sent 12/8/41 telling mom and her parents to get off the CA coast as nobody knew what just might happen next. Dad was in Kansas City, KA at the time, on loan to Grumman for a couple of years… Mom and Dad married in Kansas City February 7, 1942. My brother Hugh was born 13 months later and I came along in July 1944. When I was three they bought a home in El Segundo, just south of LAX, dad‘s workplace. Dad‘s model airplanes were hung in the bedrooms of the home and I grew up with a P 51 Mustang hung nose down above my head as I slept each night. I’ve always had a strong affection for that plane. Dad passed in 1995, brother Hugh in 2009… Were Hugh alive, his mind kept track of details far beyond my abilities. But the themes of your newsletters, your writing style, so many aspects described in this book review … I feel a kinship and much gratitude every time I see a new TCinLA post in my inbox. I’m certain I’ll be buying the book(s?!) and reading not just for my own education, but also honoring the family legacy and history. Congratulations. Dad‘s name was Kenneth William Hamilton and his best friend: Joe Weathers. Astrophysicist Robert Hamilton Cannon, a close friend here at Stanford, passed 8/15/17, always reminded me of Dad and his friends. I guess it all soaked into my psyche, beyond legitimate DNA. Thank you for all you know, have accomplished, all you research and all you write. Again, congratulations!
July 28! Oh my! This coincidence is very special to know! Happy imminent birthday! Mom’s 6/30 birthdate (1915) is exactly 4 weeks before mine, so always fell on the same day of the week…felt special, and fits my little 3rd grade teacher mindset (multiples of 7!).
congratulations, Tom. I love stories like this, especially when they involve somebody discovering--and being inspired by--a new WRITER. I worry a lot about the eventual obsolescence of BOOKS (especially including the physical object itself, how it looks and feels and smells, etc.).
I love the smell and feel of actual books too. I have to admit I listen to audiobooks a lot thanks to my 120 mile round trip commute into Portland for work several times a week. But I do get my hands on a physical book when I can. I spread my dear Pat the cat’s ashes in her vineyard today. So I changed my avatar to her picture.
You have found a kindred spirit there Tom. His review made me want to pull the book out and read it again. Congratulations.
I told my publicist to contact the site and get his information, and put him on the list of reviewers to get books. A review like that is, great, but it's better at a place like that where everyone else visiting is a potential reader.
If your goal was to sell books, mission accomplished. You can stand down now.
I laughed out loud. Any authors who don't take every opportunity to sell their wares is shortchanging themselves.
To succeed and make money, you can't afford to be shy. You need to be your own biggest cheerleader.
And it is one of the hardest lessons for creative people to learn and accept.
oh god...is it ever.
in the past few years, I've found myself telling people that I've never written anything worthwhile, save for a few song lyrics (always a collaboration anyway).
I know this can't be entirely true.
Your writing here is worthwhile. Don't sell yourself short.
thank you, Tom.
you gotta KNOW your opinion on pretty much anything means a great deal to me.
I'm glad you're in contact with the kid, which I was actually going to suggest. doing ANYTHING to encourage the next generation to write (especially history) is very important...an authentic mitzvah. and this kid can already write very well.
Congratulations! He nailed it, though I’ll add “Great book. Buy it.”
Beautiful review AND cover!!! ( is that the one we all picked? )
Great job and all the best with this book!!
Yes, that's the cover you guys said was better.
Wow. Well-deserved -- and the kind of review an author lives on. Cheers.
As Mark Twain once said, "A man can dine out for a month on a good review."
THAT'S the quote I was trying to remember!!
Just WOW TC. He can’t find a criticism with a microscope. How incredible, you have written a keeper. Your histories, whatever the subject, belong beside our most revered tomes. Your comments on here have convinced me that your research and knowledge about Vietnam are spot on. Information desperately needing to be told. Well done…
This "young airplane fan" writes like a pro -- better than many pros. Congratulations, TC!
We've ended up in contact. I intend to encourage him. He's got to be at leas 16 since he flies a Piper J-3 Cub he and his father restored.
"Premier Chronicler of the Air Wars" will follow your name, Tom. The review should help move the book, but if potential readers merely open to any page and begin a sample skim in any of your work they will be swept up by the energetic accounts of everything from the mundane to the death-defyingly glorious. Passed around "Bridge Busters" which was well received. Looking forward to the lesser well known air wars in North Africa. You're doing history some major favors, Tom.
Most of the senior Army and Air Force people who went through the North African campaign said it was "the place where we learned to walk so we could run"
Unless one grew up in the middle of the Mojave (Did anyone ever?), that campaign had to be like a fight on another planet, maybe only worse.
The kid has impeccable taste.
Definitely.
What a fabulous review. As soon as hubs finishes Clean Sweep - it’s mine!
Clean Sweep arrived yesterday. I know nothing on this subject; can't wait to read it! (As soon as I finish The Wide, Wide Sea about Capt James Cook's 3rd and final voyage.)
I'll be very interested to see your response. When writing about a technical subject with lots of detail, all of which the author is familiar with, one is always interested in what those readers who don't have that background respond to and what they get from reading it.
Of COURSE it made your day! A fabulous read from every aspect! My dad and his best friend Joe designed and flew model aircraft growing up… Dad was born in 1916. North American Aviation drafted him into their design department not long after he graduated from high school. He stayed with them his entire career. Joe’s sister Mariana became my mom when Dad proposed in a telegram sent 12/8/41 telling mom and her parents to get off the CA coast as nobody knew what just might happen next. Dad was in Kansas City, KA at the time, on loan to Grumman for a couple of years… Mom and Dad married in Kansas City February 7, 1942. My brother Hugh was born 13 months later and I came along in July 1944. When I was three they bought a home in El Segundo, just south of LAX, dad‘s workplace. Dad‘s model airplanes were hung in the bedrooms of the home and I grew up with a P 51 Mustang hung nose down above my head as I slept each night. I’ve always had a strong affection for that plane. Dad passed in 1995, brother Hugh in 2009… Were Hugh alive, his mind kept track of details far beyond my abilities. But the themes of your newsletters, your writing style, so many aspects described in this book review … I feel a kinship and much gratitude every time I see a new TCinLA post in my inbox. I’m certain I’ll be buying the book(s?!) and reading not just for my own education, but also honoring the family legacy and history. Congratulations. Dad‘s name was Kenneth William Hamilton and his best friend: Joe Weathers. Astrophysicist Robert Hamilton Cannon, a close friend here at Stanford, passed 8/15/17, always reminded me of Dad and his friends. I guess it all soaked into my psyche, beyond legitimate DNA. Thank you for all you know, have accomplished, all you research and all you write. Again, congratulations!
What date in July? That's also my birth month and year.
July 28! Oh my! This coincidence is very special to know! Happy imminent birthday! Mom’s 6/30 birthdate (1915) is exactly 4 weeks before mine, so always fell on the same day of the week…felt special, and fits my little 3rd grade teacher mindset (multiples of 7!).
So, you're actually a Leo. Mine is July 13. The day of the biggest air battle over Normandy.
Phenomenal!
Excellent review of an excellent book! Take a bow and keep on writing Tom!
congratulations, Tom. I love stories like this, especially when they involve somebody discovering--and being inspired by--a new WRITER. I worry a lot about the eventual obsolescence of BOOKS (especially including the physical object itself, how it looks and feels and smells, etc.).
so this story makes me feel good.
I love the smell and feel of actual books too. I have to admit I listen to audiobooks a lot thanks to my 120 mile round trip commute into Portland for work several times a week. But I do get my hands on a physical book when I can. I spread my dear Pat the cat’s ashes in her vineyard today. So I changed my avatar to her picture.
good idea. I'm not changing mine for a long time, although I still prefer not to look at it too closely because of how sad it makes me.
Congratulations. What a wonderful review and so well-deserved.
Exciting!