Page Text: This is the blog of author Homer Hickam. Skyridge is his home in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands rebuilt after the hurricanes of 2017
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
The illustrated "Don't Blow Yourself Up" - Cats
Don't Blow Yourself Up - To order click on cover
Many readers have asked for photos to better illustrate my memoir, Don't Blow Yourself Up : The Further Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky. Included in the stories are some beloved cats. Here they are.
TIKI and TECH - Siamese cat brothers who belonged to my parents and lived in Coalwood, WV during the time described in the memoir.
Only known photo of one of the Siamese, either Tiki or Tech, displaying typical Siamese behavior of climbing up on things
GATO - Homer got Gato along with his sister in Salt Lake City the summer of 1967 as a gift for a friend. She named him Nephi and the sister Amelia. Homer ended up with Nephi who was renamed Gato. Gato was a beloved friend who went everywhere with Homer. He died in Germany in 1981.
Young Gato at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah 1967
Young Gato outside on Dugway Proving Ground, Utah 1967
14 year old Gato, Germany, 1981
BC - Technically not a cat, BC was known as a banana cat in Vietnam. BC lived with Homer at the Oasis, a firebase on the Cambodian border, in 1968, even through a battle during the Tet Offensive. Homer had to give BC away to a medic who was glad to have him.
BC on a sandbag
Homer and BC at the Oasis, 1968
PACO - Paco was Homer's cat from 1986 well into the 2000's. He was a special cat who shared his life with Homer and his wife Linda during most of Homer's NASA career.
Paco after SL-J, the Japanese space mission for which Homer was the training manager. Gato is wearing a Ninja helmet given to him by the Japanese space agency after Paco saved the mission.
Paco on his favorite rock beside his house in Huntsville. He often waited there for Homer to come home from work
Paco with Homer's novel Back to the Moon - He was a character in the novel