In a collection of 45 short stories, extracted from his journals, the author chronicles people from his early years in a small rural town and later in his 50-year working life in the wider world. He highlights people who provide expert assistance in times of need and other interesting people, who appear unexpectedly in odd circumstances. Two of these appear as the author suffers engine failures in small aircraft in the mountain west, one of them at night. Although a few obstreperous misfits appear along the way, the reader will close the book with upbeat feelings about fellow human beings. Even the self-centered 'Big Boss', the inept 'Mr. Big' and the frenetic Smith, leave you with a smile. The book has no chronological organization but rather a deliberate randomness as these stories might appear in an afternoon's conversation with a friend. To provide some semblance of order the author assembled the various stories under broad categories: Good Samaritans Those wonderful people who see another in need an feel a compulsion to assist without the promise of recognition or reward. Intersections Of People Time And Place Unusual meetings across broad spaces of time or geography or both. People Just folks that don't fit the other categories. Washington Hamster Wheel' Incidents and people encountered during the author's frequent excursions into the governmental arena. 'Aeronautical Stories' Events from the author's experiences in engineering flight testing and as a pilot of small airplanes for more than 60 years. Airline High Jinx Engineering work for airlines brought close contact with airline flight personnel, an unusually bright and interesting group of people. Corporate Years Much of corporate internal policies served the organization rather than the customer. Internecine politics served-up some interesting events. Education Of A Country Boy In contrast to beginnings in a small rural town, the school of hard knocks yields some surprises. Some cultures see things differently.
About the Author: Richard J.(Dick) Reilly grew up in a small, Southern Minnesota, rural town named after a Sioux Indian Chief, 'Hokah.' After primary and secondary education in local schools, he enrolled in the Aeronautical Engineering program at the University Minnesota, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1951. After two years of post-graduate work he began a professional career, that spanned the aeronautical sciences ranging from high altitude research using free-flying balloons to work on supersonic aircraft and space programs. He spent 15 years working within corporate structures, then began a consulting career based largely on the aeronautical sciences and ranging across five continents. Clients included a variety of corporate, international and government organizations including the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (NATO), NASA and as guest lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University and universities of most of the NATO countries. Reilly holds 16 patents in the general areas of aerodynamics, fluid power, control systems and computing devices.