By Starr Smith, Foreword by Walter Cronkite
Paperback, 5.5 x 8.5
288 pages, 100 b/w photos
ISBN 0-7603-2824-2
$14.95 / $18.95 (CAN) / £9.99
BUY NOW!
“Smith’s clear admiration for Stewart comes through on every page, but with an understatement that even George Bailey could have lived with.”
Paperback, 5.5 x 8.5
288 pages, 100 b/w photos
ISBN 0-7603-2824-2
$14.95 / $18.95 (CAN) / £9.99
BUY NOW!
“Smith’s clear admiration for Stewart comes through on every page, but with an understatement that even George Bailey could have lived with.”
–Publisher’s Weekly
Jimmy Stewart never made a World War II movie; he once said that Hollywood war pictures never seemed to show things the way they happened. The only WWII role Jimmy Stewart embraced was that of a bomber pilot in real-time battle.
Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot by Starr Smith, with foreword by Walter Cronkite, recounts Stewart’s WWII role as it really happened. It also recounts a time when wealth and fame weren’t the most important things to Hollywood stars—when acting took a backseat to patriotism and words were backed by action.
In March of 1941, Stewart—movie star, Academy Award–winning actor, American folk hero, Princeton graduate, aviator, bachelor, and favorite with the Hollywood ladies—entered the army as a private. By January, 1944, he was flying combat missions from wartime England against Nazi Germany.
Stewart lived the American Dream. He was the small-town boy, with small-town, traditional values who earned the respect and admiration of the United States by becoming one of the most respected movie stars and an honored war hero. He both entertained and protected the country he loved.
Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot is “a true story of personal knowledge,” writes Walter Cronkite in the foreword, “and is told with skill, respect, and admiration.”
About the Author
Starr Smith is an international journalist, author, photographer, and award-winning travel writer. Smith was a combat intelligence officer with the Eighth Air Force in England during World War II. His duties included protecting Jimmy Stewart from the media. After the war, Smith worked in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the United States Air Force with the military’s top brass—Anderson, Arnold, Doolittle, Eaker, Kenney, and Spaatz, among other great World War II leaders and generals. He is the author of two previous books: a memoir, Only the Days were Long (1985) and a travel book, Starr Smith’s Southern Scenes (2001).
Reviews of Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot
“My father would feel honored by this book."
–Kelly Stewart Harcourt
“This is not a book about Jimmy Stewart’s movie star life. Smith got him out of Hollywood on the second page. It is a very human, courageous, first-hand, and personal story of Stewart’s service in wartime and a pilot and military leaders, and Smith’s work with him as a combat intelligence officer in the 8th Air Force.”
–Second Air Division Journal
“A fine book about a fine human being … Starr Smith, himself a member of Tom Brokaw’s ‘Greatest Generation,’ gives us a rare glimpse into one of its well-known personages and his little-known contribution to the war effort. It is a study in character and integrity we would do well to emulate … Far more than a tribute to Stewart, Smith has given us a window on what patriotism is all about. It is a timely chronicle.”
–Montgomery Advertiser
“Recounts Stewart’s WWII role as it really happened. It also recounts a time when wealth and fame weren’t the most important things to Hollywood stars – when acting took a backseat to patriotism and words were backed by action.”
–Bomber Legends
“Smith writes this biography from the viewpoint of a dear friend, fellow serviceman and first-rate journalist. Smith’s admiration for Stewart is evident throughout the book and honors Stewart as not just a movie star but as an air combat commander.”
–Herald-Journal
“This is a very well-researched and written book . . . It fills a place in history about no mere actor, but a courageous and selfless man.”
–General Michael E. Ryan, Chief of Staff, USAF (Ret.)
“How wonderful it is that Starr Smith has finally directed a literary light on the personal history of Jimmy Stewart. I welcomed Starr’s book. It’s needed and wanted. Bravo.”
–Gay Talese
“In Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot, author Starr Smith has seamlessly done something seemingly impossible: he gently melds together flashy Hollywood stories with reminisces of people who knew Jimmy Stewart as just a “regular” guy. If you’re a World War II veteran or a history buff, Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot is going to show you how a reel hero became a real hero.”
–The Birmingham News
