Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 05-19-2007 07:26 PM               

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I was recently asked to read a final draft of Duane (Doc) Graveline's latest book, "From Laika With Love: Secret Soviet Gifts to Apollo," which I found remarkably interesting. The book is now with the printers and will, I believe, be available next month.

There's also a rather harrowing account in the book of the Apollo 1 fire written by Dr. Fred Kelly, which relates the events and aftermath of that tragic day from a person who was the first to enter the charred spacecraft after the fire had been quelled, and was on the Accident Investigation Board.

Anyway, there's a description of the book, a photo of the front and back covers, and my review at this site.

Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-27-2008 11:25 PM               

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I've made enquiries about this book with Duane Graveline's agent who has informed me that the book should be available from Amazon at the end of the month. See Doc's website for details.

There is a handful of copies available that are signed by both Duane Graveline and Dr. Fred Kelly, available for $20 (free shipping in the U.S., $8 overseas) to any collectSPACE enquirers.

If anyone is interested in purchasing one of these dual-signed copies, see Doc's site (linked above).

Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 01-28-2008 02:28 PM               

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Doc gave me one to read also (through my friend Kevin Taylor) - and I highly recommend it.

A real insight into the Russian space program from an entirely different perspective, as well.

Posts: 181
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 02-07-2008 01:39 PM               

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My copy arrived in the UK safely - thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention, Colin. The biometric monitoring account by Duane Graveline is very interesting, as others have noted.

I hadn't read anything by Fred Kelly before. I'd known about the previous Russian death associated with 100% oxygen, but not about the US cases he documents of accidents in either high pressure or high oxygen (or both) enviroments. They're probably in the Apollo 1 report, but this was an accessible way to read about them. All in all, it's a very worthwhile little volume.

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From: Bellevue, NE, USA
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Posts: 339
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 03-14-2008 06:42 AM            

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Inexplicably, I would have missed this thread completely, had not Francis French pointed me to it. Dr. Graveline's new book sounds like a must-read, especially his discussion of the incidents of chamber fires preceding the Apollo 1 disaster.

This topic has interested me for many years. I summarized my research in this area in an article for The Space Review a year ago.

Dr. Graveline's work in space flight physiology was one of my inspirations early in my career as a researcher, and his eye-witness accounts of space history are a continuing source of new insights.

Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
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From: San Diego
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Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 03-24-2008 11:28 AM               

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I also got my copy on Friday using the above instructions, with no problems.

Has anyone had a chance to read this yet? Looks like a quick read, but I haven't had the time (holiday and all) to do more than read the first couple pages. I'd like to see some reviews or impressions.

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From: Geneva, Switzerland
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From: Los Angeles CA. USA
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From: Cinci, OH
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Posts: 1673
From: Birmingham AL
Registered: Aug 2010

posted 04-21-2012 04:03 PM               

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Got in touch with Doc Graveline last week (thanks Colin). Bought a signed copy of From Laika with Love from him, nicely inscribed to me. Just started reading it and it is well worth reading.

He has copies he will sell signed for $25. including shipping, You can contact him.

Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008

Posts: 108
From: Crestwood, MO
Registered: Mar 2009

posted 06-14-2013 10:38 AM               

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I met Doc Graveline about two years ago and have read both his books, "From Laika with Love" and "Surly Bonds". Both books are fast passed and well written. He talks a lot about his scientific contributions to the program. An area I haven't read a lot about and do find very interesting. I believe both books are only in paperback and self published. I liked them both and should put a review in Amazon and B&N for them.

Dr. Graveline was ousted from the astronaut corps about 9 to 10 months after selection because it was thought his divorce would put a black eye on the astronauts as a whole in that era. He doesn't seem to have completely reconciled that in a positive way in his life. Those passages are short and really don't taint the overall tone of his story. I don’t like reading some of his grievances with his firing but let’s be real. How can you say getting ousted from such a huge scientific undertaking is something to just suck up and get over? It is part of our overall story.

He writes so well I was actually pulling for him to survive the “firing” and get a flight full well knowing the outcome in advance. He does go into some detail with his contributions with zero gravity research and also his tracking of the Soviet flights beginning with Sputnik. He also points out and documents some of the radiation problems we have with space flight and the need to solve that issue before we can expect to go much further. I truly find both books well worth the time to read and do have them in my collection. You can buy both copies signed at the link in an above post at a very reasonable price. He did have some very significant contributions in the early stages of getting American Astronauts into space. To understand all the facets of getting into space in the beginning years of NASA he doe s have a voice that belongs in the story.

Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
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Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 06-17-2013 11:36 AM               

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In my opinion, the book has some interesting stories from the two authors, but I'd hesitate to call it well-written. It comes off as written by train-of-thought (or perhaps like an oral history), without a lot of concern for narrative coherence.

It's also typical of a self-published book in many ways. It's in serious need of some professional editing, for one thing, and the production value isn't great. It has some weird cut-and-paste artifacts, for example.

If you're really into the space medicine side of things, it's probably worthwhile. The Apollo 1 fire stuff alone is worth a read, but but it's not up there with any of the top space books.

Posts: 108
From: Crestwood, MO
Registered: Mar 2009

posted 06-20-2013 03:37 PM               

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I have to agree with the criticism to my above comment of "well written." It has been a while since I read the book and after reading kr4mula's above post of Dr. Graveline's book needing professional editing and oral history style I do agree. It did take a bit to get into the book but once I did I do remember that there is a good and interesting story there. I am glade I read it because it does have some good information from two people who were part of the program in the early days.

The flaws mentioned by kr4mula are real as well as Dr. Graveline seems to still have a couple of unreconciled grievances with some people in his past. A good editor would either pull those references out or direct them to a more appropriate direction. Overall I think the book is well written and has some good information. It does need some professional TLC to make it a complete finished product. Knowing when I am reading a self published work I tend to be a bit more forgiving and read them more as a draft and not totally a finished product.

To me one of the more interesting aspects of the book was how some of the American and Soviet scientists would try and get information to and from the other program. Not in an undermining or treasonist way but with some published work and more wide sweeping general directions. Also with some of the actual occurrences being some 40 plus years ago and likely undocumented "until now" it is likely some of the remembrances are not spot on.