Hi John,
Hope all is well with you and Sarge, and you had a safe and fun trip home. I just finished the 3rd book
and I wanted to thank you for a wonderful escape and an enjoyable read. I don't know if you need to be
a hg pilot to get captured in your adventures, but as one glidehead to another, Well Done!
Your friend
-- Brad
www.TalesFromTheWildBlueYonder.com
Torrey Green wants to be friends with you on Facebook. "Hi. I met you at Torrey last year when you came thru. Maybe you remember the Dreaded Para Dude? Anyhow, good to see your still kickin. I really enjoyed your book and would like to get the other two. (Three?) Do you have a website? Great Reading for these doldrum winter days...... Hope your getting some air somewhere. Bless and Thanks for the Tales...
Andy wrote:
"Hey John, just finished reading Taking Mexico Flying. Like the other two, I could not put it down. Thanks for the Blank Pages book too, I am already thinking about an adventure to fill the pages. I'm not opposed to e-books and stuff like that, but there is nothing like holding a real book in your hands. I'm glad I have all three of them to re-read anytime I want to. I would recommend your books to any one who flies or wants to fly."
Hi Ole,
Yeah your books are the greatest flying adventures. If you had 98 more books i'd get em all. Yeah i found good home for the other copies. I'll hopefully be flying my N3-Pup plane soon, when i do i'll look you up, if you're within a tank of gas.
Ciao, Charlie
here ya have Al's "report" on receiving your books!
yep in the mail yesterday was very early christmas present sent to me by some flying friends way out west,,,,,,she is on this list all the time,,,,,,a big thank you,,,,i got 2 books that the old gringo himself wrote,,,,,and it is my kind of reading,,,,storys of life ,,flying ,,,and mis adventures ,,,,,all rolled in to a book of short storys ,,that certainly are entertaining,,,,hey folks it takes some thing to keep my attention for mo than a min or 2,,,,,and these are easy reading and easy stopping books,,,,,just fold the page,,,,and start with a whole new adventure from the gringo himself,,,,,,aint no way iam going to finsh my opion on his books with out quoateing one of the front pages,,,,naw i aint gonna do that ,,,,,you will need to find out foryour selves ,,,but i just did not know any one had the same thoughts as i do,,,,,,great reading and great gift,,,,,,,thanks to my friends out west for the genrous gift,,,,,,a bed time story each nite is in order for me now,,,,look forward to having you all as my guest some day to repay the gifting ,,,,,,thanks,,,,,,yes i left their names out for a reason,,,,,,,old ho ho dun and come early this year,,,,hhohohohohoho,,,,,Al ---
From England:
I am reading your books off and on (in the bathroom) but I enjoy them so much, I often find myself stuck on the can until I can't walk. How's that for a recommendation? By one of our own listers.
Yet to finish this book but it's had my colleagues and me in fits at times. Difficult to read if you don't 'ablo Espagnol' as there is too much of it in the book for a English only speaking Brit like me. Nonetheless if you glide or you're a Dead Head you'll love it. By ICARO1435
You guys may be even more tickled but my new batch of books- quite literally! You see, I am having them made by www.CHARMIN.com So as you sit upon your lofty throne and contemplate these silly misadventures you will be happy to know that these pages are quite dual-purpose! RECIPES FOR DISASTER- for those who prefer a little more strength. LIVING DANGEROUSLY- for those who prefer a little more softness.
Hola Ole,
Nay, I think we have not met....but we do have friends in common and I have listened to tales of your life around more than one campfire. I have been a river guide most of my life on rivers in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Costa Rica, Alaska and Nepal & India....but NEVER been to mexico. The most recent time we "almost" met was a year or two ago when you were in Montana and then made trip over to Joseph Oregon. I fly out of Lewiston, Idaho area and have known Scott Johnson since high school. I was a local WW dealer and taught him to fly hang gliders when he got home from the navy. I started flying in 1976 and started triking in 79-80 ish. I bought the first 912 Scott brought into the country back in 03 and I am now a hangar mate of his at the "chicken roost". I'll probably go back to 103 later in life but now I live 2 blocks from LWS a class D airport, so Im playing mostly by their rules....but what happens in the hangar stays in the hanger!
I too have been an Abbey fan for decades and have tried to turn on as many people as I can to him.
I must say I have not thought of him for quite awhile, then when I read your posts I swear I’m reading him again...it's great, I didn't think there could ever be another Abbey but your right there buddy. I really look forward to reading your work this winter and hope we can fly together one day... over a huge beach in Baja sounds good.
If you ever make it this far north again lets try to get together... I have a cabin on the Snake River with a little dirt runway nearby and no other way to get there except boat... the perfect place for long safety meetings...
Thanks soooo much for adding your refreshing viewpoint to this otherwise dull forum. I'll be thinking about you with every shovel of snow I throw this winter. Enjoy buddy.
Jeff
Nay, I think we have not met....but we do have friends in common and I have listened to tales of your life around more than one campfire. I have been a river guide most of my life on rivers in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Costa Rica, Alaska and Nepal & India....but NEVER been to mexico. The most recent time we "almost" met was a year or two ago when you were in Montana and then made trip over to Joseph Oregon. I fly out of Lewiston, Idaho area and have known Scott Johnson since high school. I was a local WW dealer and taught him to fly hang gliders when he got home from the navy. I started flying in 1976 and started triking in 79-80 ish. I bought the first 912 Scott brought into the country back in 03 and I am now a hangar mate of his at the "chicken roost". I'll probably go back to 103 later in life but now I live 2 blocks from LWS a class D airport, so Im playing mostly by their rules....but what happens in the hangar stays in the hanger!
I too have been an Abbey fan for decades and have tried to turn on as many people as I can to him.
I must say I have not thought of him for quite awhile, then when I read your posts I swear I’m reading him again...it's great, I didn't think there could ever be another Abbey but your right there buddy. I really look forward to reading your work this winter and hope we can fly together one day... over a huge beach in Baja sounds good.
If you ever make it this far north again lets try to get together... I have a cabin on the Snake River with a little dirt runway nearby and no other way to get there except boat... the perfect place for long safety meetings...
Thanks soooo much for adding your refreshing viewpoint to this otherwise dull forum. I'll be thinking about you with every shovel of snow I throw this winter. Enjoy buddy.
Jeff
Hi Ole,
I took your advise and downloaded your book from TPS. I enjoyed the whole book, but bring a triker (as yet have never hang glided, hope that is the correct term), I especially enjoyed " Travels With Trikezilla or, Most Folks Got Better Sense". My wife, who at this point in my flying career has had all the trike stuff she can stand, was also pleasantly surprised to find herself also enjoying that story. Ole -- thank you for that.
Dale
Hey Gringo! I just finished the first of your three books and I think that It was funnier than hell. I couldn't help but compare it to two of my favorite books that I read over and over. Mark Twains' Roughing It and The Innocents Abroad. I know that you have read them since I saw a quote at the head of one of your chapters. What makes a book good is that you enjoy reading it the first time. What makes a book great is if you want to read it again. Can't wait to read it again. Fly high and safe. Your Amigos- Whitehawk
More from Whitehawk:
Hey Gringo-I don't give a shit if you use the Charmin. I read your account of The Fort Funston constitutional abuse issue and can only say that you better just be happy to have gotten out of there with such a small fine. If one of the Rangers had actually read one of your books you would probably be turned over to the Mexican Federales for prosecution of your many admitted crimes on their side of the border. I think it's called EXTRADITION...Sorry about Sarge. There is no doubt that a dog is a better soul than any of the two footed creatures called man. Stienbeck... Now there's a good writer...and that's no shit. Did you know that he wrote Cannery Row while living in a shack at Tahoe. (totally broke) You should try him again some time. I think he would have liked you and your books. Craig
I recently read three volumes ejaculated from your pen, provided by "William Tell" Cummings in Las Cruces. "Empty Pages" was sparse in detail, but left alot to the imagination...a writer's trick...
I am no validated critic of writing, but was impressed with the after taste of your descriptive perspicuity. I could nearly smell the food, pineapple dripping over the decorated taco stack...my mouth watered as I read.. It wasn't just about hang gliding, it was also about where you were, culturally. I first thought Walter was your alter ego, but I later presumed he was an actual human being, not just a fictitious "Kaliman". Perhaps you were "Soliman" always getting lost, a sidekick of Walters, like Tonto with the Lone(?) Ranger, until he found out "Kimosabe" meant "stupid white man", and butchered him hanging from his teats, in the old Injun way...
So I am impressed with your writing ability, to so convey your experiences as to make me feel that I know a person whom I have never met, nearly being there, flying with same, spiraling in thermals, becoming a "dot in the sky" (over-used in your texts), in imagination, if not in person.
Ralph wrote:
"I just read your story, and enjoyed it very much. Your writing is excellent, and you are a very good story teller. I recommend your books. Merry Christmas, and good luck with your book tour!"
"I just read your story, and enjoyed it very much. Your writing is excellent, and you are a very good story teller. I recommend your books. Merry Christmas, and good luck with your book tour!"
Dear Olly,
You may hardly know how very, very much we like your books! I am ever so busy, and yet, every calm moment I have a longing to pick it up. Gilbert is also so mesmerized. Of course, it is nice to share these adventures with you again, but your style is so perfect, your synonyms just your own, and astonishingly apt. I am so in awe and really hope for you, that you get the recognition you deserve. You are so modest, and we really had no idea what really was behind the so friendly and relaxed facade. Thank you, dear Olly, and stay in contact with us. It has been so long. A big warm hug.
Ines
Ines
