An Evening with Brendan Koerner, author of "The Skies Belong to Us"

Last night, I was sitting in my usual spot, working, at the local acting school, waiting for son #1 as he had play practice. Son #2, age eleven, had just finished with his practice and was reading a book. An acquaintance of mine, another drama school mom, happened to be hosting a book club that evening and had received permission to take advantage of the theater. She told me that they were hosting an author and kindly invited both my son and I to attend. I jumped at the opportunity, and surprisingly enough, so did my son.

We headed upstairs and were treated to a wonderful presentation by Brendan I. Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book and  Boston Globe Top Nonfiction Book of 2013. Apparently, there was a time in the late 60s and early 70s in which hijacking was almost an everyday occurrence. Koerner has spent much of the last four years of his life researching this phenomenon, especially focusing on one young couple - Roger Holder and Cathy Kirkow who became infamous for their hijacking of Western Airlines Flight 701. It made for a fascinating history lesson on a topic I knew nothing about. My son enjoyed it as well.

Thank you, Mr. Koerner, for traveling to Springfield from New York and providing a small group of book lovers and history buffs with a great, informative, evening!