Jul 07, 2018 a tour of coalwood, west virginia, using images and drone video. The true story, originally published as rocket boys, that inspired the universal pictures film. West virginia has been keeping the legacy of the rocket boys alive in one really cool way. In this followup to his bestselling autobiography rocket boys, homer hickam chronicles the eventful autumn of 1959 in his hometown, the west virginia mining town of coalwood. Read online october sky and download october sky book full in pdf formats. Homers parents, though imperfect, are remembered for their humor, dedication and ingenuity.
The coal mine in coalwood reached its peak in the 1960s and finally shut down production on october 1, 1982. Hickhams conversational writing style makes you feel as if youre chatting with an old buddy. In coalwood, west virginia in the 1940s and 1950s, most boys would set their sights on mining. Hickam graduated from virginia tech, served in vietnam, and worked for the u. October sky october sky is a story about a boy named sonny who lives in coalwood, west virginia. The introspective son of the mines superintendent and a mother determined to get him out of coalwood forever, homer fell in with a group of misfits who learned not only. The coalwood way the coalwood way audiobook, by homer hickam. When the paperback came out at the same time as the movie, it was also titled october sky. Everybody at his school loves football and plays it. Sky of stone is a followup to hickams two previous memoirs, rocket boys which was made into the movie october sky and the coalwood way. Today, it is one of the most often picked community. It was 1957, the year sputnik raced across the appalachian sky, and. Rocket boys also published under the title october sky. Kelly michalsflickr the coal company houses were reportedly sold to the people who lived in them during the 1980s, making coalwood one of the last and longestlived coal company towns in the united states.
As of the 1990 censusthe last time the town was counted separatelythe population was 900. That company operated the mines and town at coalwood until consolidation coal co. Not really a sequel to hickams first memoir, rocket boys which was made into the successful movie, october sky, and dealt primarily with his gang of misfit friends and their inventive, adventurous exploits this book, set around christmas 1959, is a study of the town of coalwood and how a fastmoving world affects a small community resistant to change and. Weatherford award in 1998, the year of its release. In all three books, the author commemorates his hometown and its citizens with loving admiration. Working in the coal mines is an inescapable way of life in this small town. The book contains favorite recipes submitted by hickams mother, his wife, the.
Big fish meets the notebook in this emotionally evocative story about a man, a woman, and an alligator that is a moving tribute to love, from the new york times bestselling author of the awardwinning memoir rocket boys the basis of the movie october sky. Theres a girl named dorothy plunk that sonny thinks is a beautiful young lady. The movie name october sky is an anagram of the book name rocket boys the same letters, just moved around. In the coalwood way he returns to his childhood home of coalwood, west virginia for an inspiring memoir about growing up in a town thats slowly fading away. Browse mls listings in coalwood and take real estate virtual tours at realtor. The strains can be felt within the hickam home, where a.
Interesting that october sky the name of the movie is an anagram of rocket boys the name of the book the original name anyway. But in a season traditionally marked by celebrations of the spirit, coalwood finds itself at a painful crossroads. Homer hickam introduces readers to coalwood, west virginia, a 1950s haven of small town charm and hometown magic. For those who loved the movie october sky, this book gives even more insight to the life of a teenage boy in coalwood, west virginia, in a time where the outside world was concerned with the cold war and dr. Sixteenyearold homer and his pals in the big creek missile agency are high school seniors, still building homemade rockets. We visited the annual october sky festival or the rocket boys reunion as it is know up there in coalwood. Oct 29, 2007 put a new yorker in the coal mines of west virginia. Sonny, after seeing the russian satellite sputnik, decides to join. It was selected by the new york times as one of its great books of 1998 and was an alternate bookofthemonth selection for both the literary guild and doubleday book clubs. For its first 14 or so years, the october sky festival actually took place in the little hamlet of coalwood. The film was well done, but the primary reason it reached the top of my list was that it introduced me to the coalwood trilogy, the three historical memoirs that the actual homer hickham wrote about his childhood home of coalwood, west virginia. On many trips back to west virginia, and later to myrtle beach after his retirement, we had verbalized.
Hickam and his fellow rocket boys are in their senior year at big creek high, launching handbuilt rockets that soar thousands of feet into the west virginia sky. The movie name october sky is an anagram of the book name rocket boys the same letters, just. In the coalwood way he returns to his childhood home of coalwood, west virginia for an inspiring memoir about growing up in a town th. Elsie lavender and homer hickam the father of the author were high school classmates in the west virginia coalfields, graduating just as the great depression began. Home of the rocket boys coalwood is a small, unincorporated town tucked away in the mountainous landscape of west virginia, and hidden with it, a history that not many talk about.
Its fall, 1959, and homer sonny hickam and his fellow rocket boys are in their senior year at big creek high, launching handbuilt rockets that soar thousands of feet into the west virginia sky. October sky the title on the mass market movie tiein version of the bestselling the rocket boys is the first memoir in a series of four, by homer hickam jr. Through homer hickams marvelous memoirs, readers have been transported to coalwood, west virginia, of the late 1950s first in rocket boys made into the film october sky, then the coalwood way, and now sky of stone. Although i was a teenager more than a decade later than hickam was, some of the things he wrote about hit close to home.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the coalwood way. His 1998 memoir rocket boys also published as october sky was a new york times best seller and was the basis for the 1999 film october sky. The time period is set early on a 50s nuclear family in a mining town. A tour of coalwood, west virginia, using images and drone video. In 1957 in coalwood, west virginia, a town dominated by the black steel towers of the mine and the coal waggons, for a fourteen year old boy there are two. In the coalwood memoirs, which includes rocket boys, october sky, the. It received so much acclaim and interest, he was asked to write a book detailing the whole story. The launch of sputnik in the 1950s ignites their imaginations. With the same dazzling storytelling that distinguished his first memoir, homer hickam takes us deeper into the soul of his west virginia hometown at a moment when its unique way of life is buffeted by forces of time and change. The rocket boys of hollywoods october sky visit southern. October sky is the touching and inspiring true story of a group of boys growing up in the mining town of coalwood, west virginia. It is a story of growing up in a mining town, and a boys pursuit of amateur rocketry in a coal mining town. It was 1957, the year sputnik raced across the appalachian sky, and the small town of coalwood, west virginia, was slowly dying.
There are actually four books in the coalwood series written by homer hickam, jr. The author of torpedo junction, a military history book of the month club selection, as well as numerous articles for such publications as smithsonian air and space and american history illustrated, he is a nasa payload training manager for the international space program. Coalwood is an unincorporated community coal town in mcdowell county, west virginia, united states. Homer hickam won the praise of critics and the devotion of readers with his first two memoirs set in the hardscrabble mining town of coalwood, west virginia. Sep 16, 2016 west virginia has been keeping the legacy of the rocket boys alive in one really cool way. Hickam attended every year to sign books and mingle with model rocket builders from all over the nation. Coalwood was a rather prosperous mining town from the early to late 1900s.
Not really a sequel to hickams first memoir, rocket boys which was made into the successful movie, october sky, and dealt primarily with his gang of misfit friends and their inventive, adventurous exploits this book, set around christmas 1959, is a study of the town of coalwood and how a fastmoving world affects a small community resistant to change and the. From escaping the mines of coalwood, west virginia by learning. The story starts in a west virginia town named coalwood, and takes the reader into the home of the hickams. Faced with an uncertain future, sonny hickam aka homer hickam, jr. For a number of years, coalwood was the site of the annual october sky festival, but in recent years the festival has been held in beckley. Sonnys dad is a coal miner and his dad wants him to be just like him when hes older. The coalwood trilogy discussion questions homer hickam. From 1981 until his retirement in 1998, he worked for nasa. Sixteenyearold homer and his pals in the big creek missile agency are high school seniors, still building homemade rockets and hoping that science will. It was also nominated by the national book critics circle as best biography of 1998. Hickams other books include torpedo junction, back to the moon, the coalwood way, and sky of stone, also a coalwood memoir. Put a new yorker in the coal mines of west virginia.
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