|
978-0-89587-127-5
0-89587-127-0
$16.95 paperback
5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
341 pages black-and-white photographs,
bibliography, index
|
When Wilbur and Orville
Wright arrived on North Carolina's Outer Banks in the year 1900, they
were unknown bicycle mechanics who dreamed of powered flight. Even after
they achieved the first heavier-than-air, powered flight in the dunes of
Kill Devil Hills on December 17, 1903, they remained obscure. But by the
time of Orville's last flights on the Outer Banks in 1911, they were two
of the most famous men of the twentieth century.
In First in Flight,
author Stephen Kirk describes in marvelous detail the undeniable
influence that the landscape and people of the Outer Banks had on the
Wright brothers' quest for flight and, in turn, the lasting effect that
the Wright brothers' success had on this once-desolate region.
With its lively and often
humorous narrative, First in Flight presents a broader context
for the Wrights' activities on the Outer Banks than any other book about
the famous brothers. It details every aspect of the Wrights' life on the
North Carolina coast--the lifesavers they associated with, the local
citizens they befriended, the other outsiders who came to the Outer
Banks to participate in and report on their experiments, the Wrights'
perspective on local lifestyles, and the locals' perspective on
them.
about the author
Stephen Kirk's writing has appeared in Best American Short
Stories and literary magazines. He lives near Winston-Salem, North
Carolina.
Also by Stephen Kirk:
Scribblers: Stalking
the Authors of Appalachia
|
