_Rocketman_ -- Bio of Pete Conrad

Had not even heard of this book until it appeared on the "new arrivals"
shelf of my local library a few weeks ago. It's a biography of the late
Pete Conrad, written by his widow Nancy and Howard A. Klausner. It was
published back in May by New Amerian Library.

Things I learned: Pete Conrad suffered from dyslexia in his youth; just
before his Gemini 11 flight, Deke Slayton and Gene Kranz told Conrad
privately that if Dick Gordon couldn't get back inside from his EVA, then
Conrad would have to cut him loose and return alone; that he went to work in
the cable TV industry after NASA and also for McDonnell Douglas.

Nancy Conrad describes her late husband's motorcycle accident in some detail
and believes that his injuries were treatable and he did not have to die.
It was a matter of not receiving proper treatment in time because of poor
diagnosis on the part of the doctors who initially saw him.

While visiting Russia, Conrad unexpectedly met an elderly woman who waited
for several hours just to meet him. He was very surprised when she told him
that Viktor Patsayev was her son. "I know who he is," he said, embracing
her. "We don't forget." (Patsayev was one of three cosmonauts who died
during re-entry when their spacecraft accidentally depressurized.)

The book also discusses Conrad's divorce from his first wife, and the death
of his son from cancer.

Howard A. Klausner was the screenwriter for _Space Cowboys_. He admits he
got the title for this book ("Rocketman") from the Elton John song.

On the whole, very well done and well worth reading.