Alan shepard died
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I think I knew I wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl. I loved reading and writing, and always felt I expressed myself best on paper. (On the other hand, I ran screaming into the night if I faced a math problem.) I graduated from college with the intention of becoming an English teacher, but life had other plans in store for me.
I met my future husband and ended up moving to a different city, and then, becoming mother to one, two, three, and then four children. I wanted to stay at home with them while they were little, so I began writing. At first, it was for free--local newspapers and those freebies magazines you were given in the grocery stores. I slowly built up my credentials--and my experience.
In 1990, I wrote my first educational children's book. I was hooked! I loved researching, I loved kids, I loved writing--it was the perfect direction for me. Now, more than 27 years later, I've been fortunate enough to write hundreds of books. I have written about amazing people, incredible places, and astounding history. I learn every single day and do a lot of
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Alan Shepard
American astronaut and lunar explorer (1923–1998)
For other uses, see Alan Shepard (disambiguation).
Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he became the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon, at age 47.
A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Shepard saw action with the surface navy during World War II. He became a naval aviator in 1947, and a test pilot in 1950. He was selected as one of the original NASAMercury Seven astronauts in 1959, and in May 1961 he made the first crewed Project Mercury flight, Mercury-Redstone 3, in a spacecraft he named Freedom 7. His craft entered space, but was not capable of achieving orbit. He became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space. In the final stages of Project Mercury, Shepard was scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 10 (MA-10), which was planned as a three-day mission. He named Mercury Spacecraft 15B Freedom 7 II in
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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.
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.
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