Midlife-- the very word conjures up images of afternoon trysts among men and women looking for heart-racing excitement to head off middle-aged stagnancy. At the age of 53, bald, bespectacled and height-challenged, Henry Kisor came to the realization that his prospects for excitement were limited in the affair department.

Kisor, a literary editor and book critic at the Chicago Sun Times, wrote an autobiography, "What's That Pig Outdoors" and a book about traveling across America via Amtrak, "Zephyr, Tracking a Dream Across America." His job at the Sun Times for over a half of a century left him longing for something to jar the stodginess of midlife.

An invitation from a friend found Kisor boarding a small plane and the seed of excitement was sown. Peering down from the Cessna Skyhawk, Kisor found himself "slipping the surly bounds of earth," just as described in the famous aviation poem, "High Flight," by John Gillipsie McGee Jr. When the flight was over, Kisor knew that he wanted to learn how to fly.

There was just one minor hurdle to overcome. Kisor was deaf. Like many others, he had concluded that his inability to use a radio hindered his ability to navigate an airplane. A meeting with a deaf orthodontist who piloted his own plane made Kisor realize that he could indeed pursue his dream; he would simply have to avoid airports that required radio communications or arrange for "light gun" landings at some.

Kisor found an instructor and learned to navigate a tin of steel through the air. Doing some research, he came across Cal Rodgers' 1911 historic flight from New York to California in a Wright brothers bi-plane named "Vin Fizz." Kisor learned that Rodgers also had a hearing loss and an idea came to him: he would purchase an airplane and fly a similar route, turning his discoveries into a book.

Written in 1997, "Flight of the Gin Fizz," is a tale of Kisor's midlife adventure across America and the stories of aviators and the people that make aviation happen. Along the way, Kisor weaves the journey of Cal Rodgers' flight, comparing Rodgers' navigation tactics to modern day flight. Kisor writes with incredible detail, and the reader soon forgets that they're not sitting in the passenger seat, gazing down below.

"Flight of the Gin Fizz" is sure to excite those who love to fly, but it will also touch the hearts of every reader. Kisor writes of overcoming barriers and dealing with attitudes from others who think less of a deaf person's ability to share airspace with those who do not have a sensory difference. One comes to appreciate the amount of forethought and planning that went into this adventure, for Kisor did not have the ability to simply pick up the phone to make changes or use the radio at whim.

So for those of you considering a midlife adventure, grab a copy of "Flight of the Gin Fizz," and follow along with Kisor as he travels the U.S. Your spouse will thank you for it.

It is a lot less dangerous than an affair.

ISBN: 0-465-02425-4

www.henrykisor.com

Other books by Henry Kisor:

"What's That Pig Outdoors"

"Zephyr, Tracking a Dream Across America"

"One TV Blasting and A Pig Outdoors"

"Season's Revenge"


Recommended: Yes