Cross-pollination: announcing Growing Up Boeing blog

I recently launched a Kickstarter page to seek crowd funding for a book I've been working on for some time. The book, called Growing Up Boeing is a memoir about being raised by a Boeing test pilot, around lots of other Boeing families, during the dawn of the jet age, in a Seattle permeated by Boeing culture. My father's career spanned the 1950s-1980s, so that's the focus of my book. The Kickstarter page explains in detail what the project is, and what I'm seeking funding for. In short, I'm asking the crowd to do what traditional publishing houses used to do: provide an advance so that the writer can focus on completing the project.

I'm very excited - about finally completing the research and writing for the book, and about the response I've received so far on Kickstarter. Not only the financial pledges - which show great support and confidence in me - but receiving emails from people who knew and worked with my father, even some of the other children of pilots, offering stories and whatever assistance I need. What an extraordinary group of people. Their stories and achievements need to be preserved and shared.

As part of my Kickstarter launch, I've created a new blog, called Growing Up Boeing. If you have any interest in aviation history, or nostalgia for growing up in a place like Seattle in the 1950s-1980s, check it out. I'll try to post photos and stories regularly.