After 23 years, the world will finally hear the rest of the Rocket Boys story.
What happened after young Homer Hickam and the boys of Coalwood celebrated a successful rocket launch and their National Science Fair win in 1960? Did the inspiring scientist see his dreams come true? Where is Homer Hickam today?
“Don’t Blow Yourself Up: The Further True Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky” answers these questions and more.
When Hickam’s first memoir “Rocket Boys” was published in 1998, it saw great success. The movie adaptation of the story, “October Sky,” was released in 1999, and, throughout the years, the memoir has won numerous awards and recognitions, including number one on the New York Times Best Seller list in 1999.
Many may ask why Hickam waited more than two decades to continue his story, but his answer is simple.
“You just have to feel that it’s right,” he said. “When the time came to write “Rocket Boys” it was right. I could have written it during all those years, but the time wasn’t right.”
Hickam said he wrote his memoir when he did because he felt that country needed it.
“It’s the same thing with this book. I didn’t feel the time was right before. I was prepared to tell it, but I didn’t feel that people needed it. Now, I think they do.
“‘Rocket Boys’ is still considered a classic, but it’s a product of the past. Now is the time I can tell the rest of the story without getting in the way of the first one.”
The continuation of Hickam’s story is affectionately titled after his mother’s words to him when he first announced that he wanted to build a rocket.
“That was her advice to me. My dad did nothing, my brother laughed, and my mom took a long look at me and said, ‘Well, don’t blow yourself up.’ Throughout my life, there have been quite a few times whether I actually did or came close to being blown up. I thought long and hard about the title and thought, ‘Why not?’”
According to Hickam, the memoir is him telling his own truth. Starting the afternoon after Hickam successfully launches his own rocket, the story will detail how he journeyed from engineer to writer to NASA employee, his time with the Fourth Infantry Division in Vietnam and the battles he fought during the war, and ultimately, how he went from a boy who wanted to build a rocket to a man who actually did.
“It’s about the things that happened that pulled me away from that boy that wanted to work in the space business. A lot of things got between me and that dream. Now, it’s an okay time for me to tell that story. What happened, how he lost the dream and how he was able to find it again.
“I think this story is going to be told over and over and over again when I pass. That is what I’ll be known for, and I accept it. But I think there’s more to do with it. I wrote this book, and I think it will spark some fresh eyes in California, in Hollywood, to look at another ending, another version.”
While Hickam would like to see his new story on the big screen, he says there is still life left in the old story too.
In fact, the author will travel to Beckley on Monday, October 25, to take part in “Homer, Elsie and Sonny the Mini Musical.” During the performance, which is presented by Theatre West Virginia, Hickam will narrate his own story, interwoven with key songs from “Rocket Boys the Musical.”
“It tells essentially the same story but a little more toward life in West Virginia, the family, the father-son dynamic and the mother-father dynamic,” Hickam shared.
Rhayne Thomas will perform as Elise, Hickam’s mother, and Carl Anthony Traymon will play Sonny, a younger version of Hickam.
Prior to the performance, which will begin at 7 p.m. at Tamarack’s HC Smith Theatre, Hickam will be signing copies of his newest book, which won’t hit shelves until October 26. The eBook version of “Don’t Blow Yourself Up” became available on October 19.
“People should come and expect a good time,” Hickam said of Monday’s performance. “The first time we did the mini-musical was so much fun, not only for the audience but for us too. We will make them laugh, and it will be a really fun evening.”