Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

  collectSPACE: Messages
  Publications & Multimedia
  Live From Cape Canaveral (Jay Barbree)

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Live From Cape Canaveral (Jay Barbree)
Tom
Member

Posts: 1627
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 01-27-2007 10:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Tom   Click Here to Email Tom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jay Barbree who has covered every manned U.S. launch for NBC is coming out with a book in September. From MSNBC...
Jay Barbree is in his 49th year with NBC News. He has never missed covering a single launch of American astronauts for the NBC network. Barbree is currently writing the history of space flight for Smithsonian Books, titled "Live From Cape Canaveral." The book is to be released in late September for the 50th anniversary of Sputnik's launch.

dave
Member

Posts: 414
From: Hinckley
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 01-28-2007 04:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dave   Click Here to Email dave     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This will be good, Jay is my hero. I have always been fascinated with the media coverage of manned spaceflight so I await this book with much anticipation.

One day I will go through the hundreds of audio recordings of his (and many others) reports I taped over the years — concise, factual, to the point but above all else he conveyed his love of what he does in each and every single report.

Can't wait, thanks Tom.

cspg
Member

Posts: 6255
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006

posted 01-28-2007 09:56 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cspg   Click Here to Email cspg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Tom, thanks for the info.

I thought the original title was "Memoirs from the Space Program." Thanks for the clarification.

Lola Morrow
Member

Posts: 40
From: Denver Co USA
Registered: Jun 2006

posted 02-08-2007 03:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lola Morrow   Click Here to Email Lola Morrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jay Barbree and I attended the Space Pioneers dinner in 2006. I've know Jay for 45 years. We sat across from each other and shared our favorite stories about our dearest and treasured friend, Martin Caiden. Jay is dedicating the book to him.

At that time, Jay's title for the book was "Memoirs of the Space Program" due out as a coffee table edition for the Christmas holidays. His deadline was Dec. 31 with Harper Collins for the Smithsonian.

Jay called me to say he met his deadline and wanted me to know that the Gemini XII photo and how it got to be was in the book (a Martin Caiden/Lola story).

Since then the publisher changed the title and moved the release date up, which makes sense. Sputnik played a major role in moving NASA forward. Therefore, I stand corrected.

Lola Morrow
Member

Posts: 40
From: Denver Co USA
Registered: Jun 2006

posted 08-01-2007 10:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lola Morrow   Click Here to Email Lola Morrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Heard from Jay today that his new book will be out Sept. 3, Labor Day. He noted:
We will be kicking it off on the Today Show! It is being published by Smithsonian Books and introduced by Tom Brokaw. It has reviews by John Glenn, Walter Cronkite, Larry King, Scott Carpenter & Tom Brokaw on the jacket.
And for those cS members in the area, Jay let me know that the Chamber of Commerce is having a dinner at the Holiday Inn on Cocoa Beach on Oct. 4 to celebrate the book and Sputnik. There is a limit of 300.

I am really looking forward to his book, which he is dedicating to his and my close dear friend, Martin Caiden. Knowing Marty, he will be raising a glass of champagne to celebrate with Jay from above in a special place.

steve_greene
Member

Posts: 14
From: Atlanta, Ga 30329
Registered: Jan 2007

posted 08-26-2007 04:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for steve_greene   Click Here to Email steve_greene     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just received notice from Amazon that my copy has shipped. Can't wait to get started on this one.

kking
Member

Posts: 106
From: Topmost, KY
Registered: Nov 2002

posted 08-30-2007 12:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for kking   Click Here to Email kking     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just got "Live From Cape Canaveral." What I've read so far is great. Any word on when he is going to be on Today or MSNBC?

Lola Morrow
Member

Posts: 40
From: Denver Co USA
Registered: Jun 2006

posted 08-31-2007 08:03 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lola Morrow   Click Here to Email Lola Morrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just received this from Jay Barbree.
We are scheduled to be in the 8:30 a.m. segment of Monday's Today show. That's September 3rd. There is to be a feature package with Lester Holt interviewing me at the launch sites at the Cape on Sunday September 9th. I do not have the time for that.
Also there's an AP feature by Marcia Dunn running this weekend in many papers plus a piece on the book by Todd Halvorson in Florida Today this Sunday.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 46258
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-31-2007 08:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Lola Morrow:
Also there's an AP feature by Marcia Dunn running this weekend in many papers
AP: NBC newsman distills 50 years of spaceflight
Only one person on the planet has covered every manned launch out of Cape Canaveral and now, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of spaceflight, he's written a book about it.

Veteran NBC space correspondent Jay Barbree's memoir, "Live from Cape Canaveral," is being released over the Labor Day weekend by Smithsonian Books.

medaris
Member

Posts: 185
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 09-01-2007 06:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for medaris   Click Here to Email medaris     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Don Boggs at Boggs SpaceBooks is offering signed (although not dedicated) copies of this book.

garymilgrom
Member

Posts: 2047
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 09-04-2007 09:00 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for garymilgrom   Click Here to Email garymilgrom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The first half of this book covers the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo era and I found it disappointing. Jay tries to give an overview of every flight through this time but winds up hitting the well known points only. We are treated to a "lite history" of these events, including Grissom's hatch, Glenn's heat shield, the whirling dervish of Gemini 8, difficulties of space walking, Apollo 1 fire, Apollo 7 head colds and so on. Every launch gets an unneeded 10, 9, 8... countdown while Jay's description of these events is unscientific and full of hyperbole.

My disappointment in this section is based on Jay not writing about the background to these stories. I was sure 50 years of close participation would bring untold anecdotes and personal stories from behind the scenes, but one story of a Christmas dinner with a Mercury astronaut was not enough. I would also like to have read Jay's view of his profession during this time.

During his career he saw the transition from radio to TV, the end of film and introduction of videotape, the rise of digital imaging plus a great improvement in the speed and ease of transferring images and data around the world. None of this is touched on but a single paragraph on the differences between TV and radio personalities is one of the best in the book.

But then Jay has a chapter about covering Jimmy Carter in his bid for the presidency. Jay writes beautifully about his shared background with Carter as a southern Georgia person, and his warmth and personal stories make this chapter special. In the next chapter Jay has a health scare and this seems to have affected the final half of the book in a positive way.

In talking about NASA during the shuttle era Jay is full of interesting anecdotes and not afraid to tell us his real feelings, or the thoughts of others behind the scenes at NASA as they experience both triumph and tragedy. For me this saved the book.

Overall I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars or very good. It needs more human stories and personal reflections in the first half to be truly excellent.

Caveat: I have read many books on the early space programs and my age means I lived through it live; perhaps a novice to these events would find the first half of "Live From Cape Canaveral" more interesting than myself.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 46258
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-04-2007 10:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here's another review, this one by Jeff Foust, editor of The Space Review:

Review: "Live from Cape Canaveral"

A month from today will be the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik and the generally accepted beginning of the Space Age. Thus, it should be little surprise that a number of books are arriving on bookstore shelves that look back at that event or the history of space exploration in general, either from those who directly participated in those events or from historians and others who later studied them. Jay Barbree, in "Live from Cape Canaveral", provides a unique perspective: that of a journalist who covered the American space program since virtually its inception.

Kevmac
Member

Posts: 287
From: College Station, TX
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 09-04-2007 09:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kevmac   Click Here to Email Kevmac     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Does anyone know if Jay Barbree will be doing a book-signing tour? If so, any details on what places he'll visit? Houston? The Cape? Washinton, DC? Thank you.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 46258
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-04-2007 09:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Harper Collins has a page that tracks author appearances for Barbree, but thus far the majority are media appearances and the signings listed (of which there is only one) is in Florida.

MCroft04
Member

Posts: 1722
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 09-09-2007 07:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MCroft04   Click Here to Email MCroft04     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Sunday's Today show (here in the U.S.) ran a segment on Jay's book. Most interesting, when Jay was asked about his most memorable moment over the years, he responded that while most folks believe it was the lunar landings, in fact it was John Glenn's Friendship 7 flight.

4allmankind
Member

Posts: 1071
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 12-27-2007 09:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for 4allmankind   Click Here to Email 4allmankind     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just finished the book after months of slacking off on my reading...

I found the book to very interesting. Mr. Barbree has a pleasant writing style. I liked the layout of the photos that are found within the chapters. I prefer that layout over all of the photos in the middle of the book in one big cluster. Dispersed within the chapters makes for an easier read.

Not too much new (not before known) knowledge to be gained in the book would be my only negative.

I took two items away from the book that I found to be very interesting... The story of his meeting with Glenn after the A8 launch, as well as the Challenger investigation as seen from a reports point of view.

I think the Challenger portions were the best parts of the book. I was pleased to see Sam Beddingfield mentioned in two chapters and I never knew Sam's involvement with the public learning of the investigation's early findings.

Overall, a great book and an easy read.

ed zigoy
Member

Posts: 38
From: Portland, OR
Registered: Feb 2005

posted 05-25-2016 10:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ed zigoy   Click Here to Email ed zigoy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Page 144:
Martin Caidin and I were working on a secret space book as the Thor/Agena raced away..,
This "Discoverer" launch is undated and what's this about a secret space book?

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2021 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a





advertisement