Dick Fortenberry

The Whole Town's Jumping

The Whole Town’s Jumping

Parachute-happy Orange, Mass. is the scene of the sixth world championship beginning this week, and the U.S. men’s and women’s teams have been busy practicing leaps, loops and tricky landings. They have a good chance to beat the Russians and Czechs for the title.

This is a fantastic look back at the pioneer days of skydiving, thanks Sports Illustrated for keeping such an eye opening article. My favorite glimpse of the past was looking at the cost of skydiving then.  Click on the Sports Illustrated photo take a journey back in time.

As Paul Harvey would say “Now for the rest of the Story”  to find out about the Pioneering days of Skydiving and how the United Stated Army Golden Knights came to be, you have to read (NO ETA) by author Dick Fortenberry.  This book is a delightful read, that chronicles one boys dream to seek adventure in the skies.  Seeking  no goal other than to skydive, Dick sets off on a journey that will take he and his comrades and  teammates to the very heavens.  Along the way they developed many of today’s standards for parachuting, the book takes you through the  setting numerous world altitude reacords  all the way to the World Championship’s.  The characters in this book are real, I refer to the men and women in this book as characters because these were people who had character and a terrific sence of humor.  They shared a vision, a purpose, and a passion for skydiving I invite you to read the book , you will be swept away Dick Fortenberry’s story telling style of writing is a joy to experience.  Read the reviews at Amazon, book is available in Hard cover, in Soft cover, and Kindle version