best mil+aviation writers?

In article , Ed Rasimus
writes
On Mon, 10 May 2004 18:47:01 +0100, Dave Eadsforth
wrote:

Now you have complicated things by bringing fiction into it!

There could be a lot more truly accurate and exciting aviation fiction
on the market if only the publishers were not looking for the 'right
emotional focus' - cue for characters with outlandish personal traits
and a politically correct emphasis. And there is of course the
'heartrending tale of young love tested by a world at war' - cue for a
nice book cover, abundant technical inaccuracies, and an operational
lifestyle unknown to history.

The demand for 'broad appeal' has a lot to answer for.

Tell me about it!

While trying to maintain a semblance of realism and acknowledgment of
the combined talent and inherent immaturity of the fighter pilot, I
included the following anonymous poem, gleaned from Internet sources
to the dedication of my new book. It has fallen to the cutting room
floor, never to see the light of publication, a victim of political
correctness. It says a lot. (Anyone know the origin?????)

Girls with their pants down

Because somewhere in me is still the little boy,
who wants to kick the can and write on walls,
and hitch rides on the tailgates of trucks,
and pull little girls' pants down.

And somewhere in me is still the go-to-hell pilot
in the go-to-hell hat flinging an aircraft
down boundless halls of space,
and talking with hands for airplanes,
and reliving the Po delta and the Mekong delta,
and reaching out to touch the face of God,
and profaning those who are tied to earth,
and pulling girls' pants down.

And somewhere in me is the Descartes and the Sartre
who philosophizes on the here and the hereafter,
and the deism of all that lives and not lives,
and the beauty of sky and water and cloven hoofs and man, and girls with
their pants down.

And deep inside me there is that uncompromising realist
who knows that this is all a terribly temporary gift;
that sometime, perhaps this next second,
he must run into that last hard object,
be it the side of a mountain, the slam of a bullet,
or that massive grasp of a giant's hand on a faltering heart.
When that time comes, if there is one thing to remember.
It will be that sweet memory that transcends them all,
the little boy, the go-to-heller, the philosopher, the realist;
it will be the ineffably beautiful picture of a girl. . .
with her pants down.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

Thanks for that, Ed - duly cut and pasted, and will be cherished...

I was taught to fly by a loony ex-Spitfire pilot who probably fitted the
mould you have described. I am glad that I am the age that I am and
have had the chance to talk to some of these guys - but I suspect you
have known many more...

Cheers,

Dave

--
Dave Eadsforth

In article , Ed Rasimus wrote:

While trying to maintain a semblance of realism and acknowledgment of
the combined talent and inherent immaturity of the fighter pilot, I
included the following anonymous poem, gleaned from Internet sources
to the dedication of my new book. It has fallen to the cutting room
floor, never to see the light of publication, a victim of political
correctness. It says a lot. (Anyone know the origin?????)

So the publisher wouldn't let you include it? Or someone talked
you out of it? If the former--boo hiss. I guess I foolishly thought
that authors had control over things like that.

Mike Beede

On Thu, 13 May 2004 12:59:59 -0500, Mike Beede wrote:

In article , Ed Rasimus wrote:

While trying to maintain a semblance of realism and acknowledgment of
the combined talent and inherent immaturity of the fighter pilot, I
included the following anonymous poem, gleaned from Internet sources
to the dedication of my new book. It has fallen to the cutting room
floor, never to see the light of publication, a victim of political
correctness. It says a lot. (Anyone know the origin?????)

So the publisher wouldn't let you include it? Or someone talked
you out of it? If the former--boo hiss. I guess I foolishly thought
that authors had control over things like that.

While the contract may say that the publisher will not make
"significant" or "major" revisions to the work, it is surprising what
they can do. I had a lot of input on the first book, but the second
one has had the title changed (over my strenuous objections) and the
cover art settled without consideration of my input.

The poem is considered indelicate, particularly in this period of
sexual harassment scandals at the AFA and other places. Might be too
reminiscent of Tailhook.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8