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New book - TOUCHING HISTORY

njslim

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njslim
Joined
May 30, 2006
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1,077
Was in bookstore tonight - saw this new book TOUCHING HISTORY by
Lynn Spencer, an airline pilots, who interviewed pilots, FAA officials, NEADS
personnel and Air Guard pilots tasked with defending US airspace on 9/11

Fascinating and goes into detail (including mentioning United 23 - often
suspected as hijack target)

Our pal GUMBOOT should really love this....
 
Your description makes the book sound interesting; the title makes the book sound 'inappropriate', if you know what I mean.
 
Glad it's finally being released. Soon as it's available here I'll be grabbing a copy and taking a look.
 
Looks good.

To get to the truth, she (author Lynn Spencer) went on a three-year quest, interviewing hundreds of key players, listening to untold hours of tapes and pouring through voluminous transcripts to re-create each heart-stopping moment...
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As opposed to "truthers" who will go on a three-minute YouTube quest then say that Lynn Spencer has it all wrong.
 
Rats! I should have waited a couple of days....I could have saved about $15 on the both of them...*making note to stop at bookstore tomorrow*
Better Together

Buy this book with Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11 by Patrick Creed today!
Buy Together Today: $34.98
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It has some great pilot stories in it. I thought it was a great read, it does slow down the last three chapters, after all four planes have crashed. Has pretty much everything I have said in it. But the pilot stories are really good. Beachnut and Reheat would like them.
 
Cheap Shot said:
It has some great pilot stories in it. I thought it was a great read, it does slow down the last three chapters, after all four planes have crashed. Has pretty much everything I have said in it. But the pilot stories are really good. Beachnut and Reheat would like them.
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Cheap Shot,
I ordered the book from Amazon tonight. Was wondering if Ms. Spencer had interviewed you for your accounts?
 
A face to face interview about two years ago, and then numerous e-mails, allot of them just regarding basic ATC stuff, it didn't always have to do with 9-11.

I thought she did a pretty good job in the book, a couple of things I had only heard about, didn't know if they were true or not, and she confirmed several of them.
 
I just finished reading Lynn Spencer's "Touching History". I have to admit that once I started reading this afternoon, I couldn't put it down. So much for cleaning the garage today....:p
She really goes into detail, following the timeline, jumping between locations, people and situations, but maintaining a flow that made the subject matter easy to follow.
A couple of points of interest to me were the attention given to Delta 1989, a flight that was mistakenly thought to be hijacked, and the number of unprecedented procedures that were put into effect for the first time that day. Such examples were nearly constant military escorts of Air Force One and the locking down of Cheyene Mountain.
I found it fascinating reading, and learned a few new datails that filled some of the gaps in my recollection and comprehension of the events of September 11, 2001.
I would certainly recommend it to anyone wishing to know what the airline pilots, air traffic controllers and the military pilots and command went through that day.
 
I guess if you consider the free book she sent me with a personal message inside, a profit, then I received about $19.99 for my services, that doesn't even get me a quarter tank of gas.
 
Cheap Shot said:
A face to face interview about two years ago, and then numerous e-mails, allot of them just regarding basic ATC stuff, it didn't always have to do with 9-11.

I thought she did a pretty good job in the book, a couple of things I had only heard about, didn't know if they were true or not, and she confirmed several of them.
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That's fantastic, Cheap Shot. I wondered if you were involved in the author's research for the book ~ now I'm looking even more forward to starting it. (I just got both Touching History and Firefight and I started Firefight first... I should get off the Internet and get back to reading so I get to it more quickly ;) )
 
gtc said:
Your description makes the book sound interesting; the title makes the book sound 'inappropriate', if you know what I mean.
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Hello History. Now point on the map where the bad man touched you...
 
I believe Simon & SHuster changed the tile, she orignally was writing it under the title "Clear the Skies".
 
I just finished the book yesterday.. "Riveting" is an over-used word, but is completely appropriate with Lynn's book. I have a few reviews posted at blogs I write for - my own at Instapinch, over at Blackfive and Op-For.

Great book - definitely a must if anyone wants to understand what went on that day from an aviation perspective.
 
One interesting Mineta-related point that I noticed in the book.

Mineta told the 9/11 Commission that...

Mr. Flaherty reported to me that Jane Garvey had phoned to report that the CEO of Delta Airlines had called the FAA and said it could not yet account for all of its aircraft.
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/archive/hearing2/9-11Commission_Hearing_2003-05-23.pdf
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The way he tells it, this happened before he left for the White House. If he's to reach the PEOC by 9:20, as truthers claim, this means the Delta CEO needed to be making that call by around 9:10 at the very, very latest. We might be able to verify that if we knew what Delta Airlines were calling about, but I've not seen any clear reference. Until I read Touching History, that is, where Spencer reports on page 186:

Soon Garvey gets a call from Delta CEO Leo Mullins.

"We can't find four of our planes," he tells her. "Four of our transponders are off."
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This only happens after the Pentagon is hit, though, something like half an hour later than it needs to be for Mineta's timeline to work. It's not completely conclusive as Spencer's timetable for Mineta is a little odd - she has him talking about the Pentagon crash scene to American Airlines even before this happened, which I don't think was possible. But anyway, it's the only reference I've seen that matches with Mineta's comments, and again it conflicts with his timetable. Just another leetle problem for the truthers to ignore.
 
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Pinch said:
I just finished the book yesterday.. "Riveting" is an over-used word, but is completely appropriate with Lynn's book. I have a few reviews posted at blogs I write for - my own at Instapinch, over at Blackfive and Op-For.

Great book - definitely a must if anyone wants to understand what went on that day from an aviation perspective.
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Agreed. I have finished reading it, too, and "riveting" is certainly an appropriate word in this instance. It is an excellent book that I also highly recommend. It fills in a lot of the blanks, with excellent sourcing, that people might have about what transpired in the skies that day.

And Cheap Shot got a "special thanks" in the afterword, I see. Very well deserved, in my opinion, after reading the book.

Thank you, Cheap Shot, for sharing your knowledge and your experiences of that day in order to help Ms. Spencer tell this important story in a detailed and accurate fashion.
 
LashL said:
Agreed. I have finished reading it, too, and "riveting" is certainly an appropriate word in this instance. It is an excellent book that I also highly recommend. It fills in a lot of the blanks, with excellent sourcing, that people might have about what transpired in the skies that day.

And Cheap Shot got a "special thanks" in the afterword, I see. Very well deserved, in my opinion, after reading the book.

Thank you, Cheap Shot, for sharing your knowledge and your experiences of that day in order to help Ms. Spencer tell this important story in a detailed and accurate fashion.
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I just wanted to echo LashL's thanks to CheapShot. I set down "Firefight" to read "Touching History", but could not put that book down until I finished it. I learned a lot more than I thought I would when I bought it.
Thanks again, CheapShot!
 
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