On a cold December day in 1954, Dr. John Paul Stapp rode into the history books at 632 miles per hour aboard the Sonic Wind 1 at Holloman Air Force Base’s High Speed Test Track. He was an instant international sensation, gracing magazine covers, newspaper front pages, and even thrilling viewers on This is Your Life. He used his celebrity status to push the cause he felt most passionately about – improving automobile safety, particularly seat belts – then known as “Stapp straps”.
Across the Tularosa Basin, home to Holloman Air Force Base and Dr. Stapp, his accomplishments are widely known even today, but after six decades most of the rest of the world has forgotten him. On Saturday, October 10, meet the man who intends to bring Dr. Stapp back into the spotlight with his new book Sonic Wind: The Story of John Paul Stapp and How a Renegade Doctor Became the Fastest Man Alive. The museum is hosting a mid-morning brunch, talk and book signing beginning at 9:00 am on the first floor. Tickets are on sale now for $20 per person, $35 per couple, at the Museum’s Marketing Department inside the Tombaugh Theater. Museum members receive a $5.00 discount.
Ryan takes readers on a journey behind the magazine covers and publicity, into the real life of Dr. Stapp and how this obstinate doctor’s seeming ‘death wish” has resulted in saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Ryan’s book was called “a curious but charming tale, the story of a man who courted danger - and death – in the ultimate pursuit of safety” by Emily Anthes of the Washington Post. Kirkus Reviews said it was the “remarkable, almost-forgotten story of an aerospace pioneer. …Ryan's full-length biography uncovers the private man, Stapp's offbeat sense of humor, his awkward love life, his passion for classical music, and his friendships with daring test pilots Chuck Yeager and Joe Kittinger, fellow trailblazers whose fame has persisted. A consistently fine appreciation of the medical maverick who, as much as any other, helped make the Space Age possible.”
The New Mexico Museum of Space History, a Smithsonian affiliate, is a division of the NM Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information on Museum events or on how you can become a member of the International Space Hall of Fame Foundation, call 437-2840 or 1-877-333-6589, or visit the website at www.nmspacemuseum.org.