Neal Thompson - Light This Candle: The Life & Times of Alan Shepard--Americas First Spaceman

Table of Contents

For Mary

Man must rise above the Earthto the top of the atmosphere and beyondfor only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.

SOCRATES, 500 B.C.

Praise for Neal Thompsons

LIGHT THIS CANDLE

Alan Shepard captured the imagination of America perhaps more than any other astronaut. I was so proud he was our friend, and even more proud of the example of courage that he set for so many people around the world. He was a good man, and Barbara and I loved him.

President George H. W. Bush

Just a wonderful and gripping biography... meticulously reported in the best tradition of David Halberstam. It is written with eloquent grace. Most satisfying of all, Light This Candle is the cant-put-it-down story of a modern swashbuckler determined to conquer the universe whatever the risk. In Thompsons hands, an amazing life, the ultimate American life, comes alive so exquisitely.

Buzz Bissinger,
New York Times bestselling author of Friday Night Lights

Just what a biography should be: sharp, evocative, and brisk.

KirkusReviews

Shepard was a very complicated individual. He had all the attributes to be successful, but he always lived on the edge. He had the perseverance to live through his medical problems to finally fly to the moon, but he didnt always follow the rules. Light ThisCandle captures the many facets of Alan Shepard.

Captain James A. Lovell

Thompson shows that Shepard was an immensely complicated and conflicted man whose many passions drove him to feats of extraordinary bravery and accomplishment, but also to dangerous flirtations with self-destructions.

SmithsonianAir &Space

Story-telling at its best... Every page is alive.

David Hartman,
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings

Tough to say whats cooler: that Alan Shepard was the first American in space, or that he hit a golf ball on the moon. LightThis Candle chronicles the amazing life of the brashest, funniest astronaut ever.

MensHealth

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.

LibraryJournal

The thoroughness of his research is impressive, and his fast-paced narrative keeps the pages turning.

Paul Stillwell,
director, History Division, U.S. Naval Institute

Journalist Thompson reveals another side of this all-American navy pilot with the right stuff. A snappily written, factual counterbalance to Tom Wolfes sometimes poetic renderings of the heroes of the early space program.

PublishersWeekly

Neal Thompson has taken a larger-than-life figure about whom we thought we knew all we needed to know, subjected him to rigorous investigative reporting and dogged shoe-leather research, and produced a gripping, highly readable tale that makes Alan Shepard, one of the iconic figures of the past half century, even more fascinating without diminishing his heroic dimensions.

Robert Timberg,
author of The Nightingales Song and State of Grace: A Memoir of Twilight Time

A valuable addition to the library of books on the space program.

TheHoustonChronicle

Thompson has thoroughly researched Shepard.... [The] first full-dress biography of a complex space pioneer.

Booklist

A quick and thoroughly captivating read.

Leatherneckmagazine

A fine book that depicts Shepard vividly. [The] prose crackles with the kind of energy Americans remember from those first broadcasts from space itself. Thompsons persistence in interviewing Shepards surviving colleagues has bared Shepards soul in ways the man himself seemed incapable of doing. Light ThisCandle, in contrast to the swagger of Wolfes Right Stuff, exposes Shepard as a complex individual who had to battle his own ambition and ego to become a better man.

KansasCityStar

An illuminating look at Americas first spaceman. [Thompson] writes with eloquent grace. This is one of the finest books ever written about our space program. The thoroughness of the authors research is impressive.

TheIndianapolisStar

An extremely readable account of the life of a Navy pilot and Americas first astronaut hero.

DallasMorningNews

A highly readable effort to explain this remarkable American.

The Charlotte Observer

The story remains irresistible, no matter how often its told.... Thompsons biography hits all the right notes... professional, conscientious, and honest.

TheBuffaloNews

A rare, warts-and-all portraitand Shepard had a lot of warts. Thompson does a stellar job painting a real-life figure who never really showed his true self to anyone.

TheVancouverSun

Light this candle is a phrase that tells us a lot about the way Americas first spaceman lived his life... an enjoyable composition spiced with humor and anecdotes.

TheCharlestonPostandCourier

Alan Shepard comes through as ambitious, cold, and often selfish. He also comes through as competent, determined, and brave.

TheWashingtonTimes

A well-researched biography [and] a long overdue account of Alan Shepard... A welcome addition to the history of the nations space programs.

SeaPower

This excellent biography... attempts to explain how such a remarkable personality could remain almost invisible to public scrutiny. Thompsons thorough research has uncovered a surprising amount of information about Shepard. This book is long overdue and a fitting tribute to Americas first man in space.

Flight Journal

FOREWORD

Today, it is all too easy to think of the first 15-minute ballistic flight of Project Mercury as a mere blip on the history screen of manned space flight. In 1961, believe me, it was anything but a simple thing to do. The buildup to this flight by the media, Congress, the White House and, frankly, the entire world was overwhelming. The space race with the Russians had been heating up for some time, and the technical reputation of the United States hung in the balance.

Add to this the fact that the reliability of a rocket-propelled system in 1961 was not much better then 60 percent and you may begin to have a feel for the anxiety all of us were experiencing. All but the most optimistic flight surgeons questioned the human response to being at zero gravity for extended periods of time. Many learned doctors in the medical community predicted dire results, such as total disorientation, loss of vision, and a lack of capability to perform the smallest task. Skeptics who thought we were venturing beyond the state of the art were many. And we were informed several weeks before the flight that it was to be done with real-time coverage of the world press.

All of us in flight operations came into the space program with varied backgrounds and education. My personal background was from the airplane flight test group of the NACA at Langley Field, Virginia. My entire career had been spent interfacing with new and high-speed airplanes. We were accustomed to exploring the outer edges of the envelope of an airplanes performance. But we had no idea what we were getting into in the realm of space.