The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film directed and co-written by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from the semi-autobiographical 1966 novel The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry. The film's ensemble cast includes Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Ellen Burstyn, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, and Cybill Shepherd. Set in a small town in northern Texas from November 1951 to October 1952, it is a story of two high-school seniors and long-time friends, Sonny Crawford (Bottoms) and Duane Jackson (Bridges).
Angela's Ashes: A Memoir is a 1996 memoir by the Irish-American author Frank McCourt, with various anecdotes and stories of his childhood. The book details his very early childhood in Brooklyn, New York, US but focuses primarily on his life in Limerick, Ireland. It also includes his struggles with poverty and his father's alcoholism.
Willy Otto Oskar Ley was a German-American science writer and proponent of cryptozoology. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.
Coalwood is an unincorporated community coal town in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. The coal mine in Coalwood reached its peak in the 1950s and finally shut down production on October 1, 1986. As of the 1990 census—the last time the town was counted separately—the population was 900. The town is the setting of the best-selling memoir Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam and the October Sky movie that is based on the book.
Homer Hadley Hickam Jr. is an American author, Vietnam War veteran, and a former NASA engineer who trained the first Japanese astronauts. His 1998 memoir Rocket Boys was a New York Times Best Seller and was the basis for the 1999 film October Sky. Hickam's body of written work also includes several additional best-selling memoirs and novels, including the "Josh Thurlow" historical fiction novels, his 2015 best-selling Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator and in 2021 the sequel to Rocket Boys titled Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky. His books have been translated into many languages.
October Sky is a 1999 American biographical drama film directed by Joe Johnston and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, and Laura Dern. The screenplay by Lewis Colick, based on the memoir of the same name, tells the true story of Homer H. Hickam Jr., a coal miner's son who was inspired by the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 to take up rocketry against his father's wishes and eventually became a NASA engineer.
Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman "Hermie" Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, embarks on a one-sided romance with a young woman, Dorothy, whose husband has gone off to fight in World War II.
Lying Lips is a 1939 American melodrama race film written and directed by Oscar Micheaux who co-produced the film with aviator Hubert Fauntlenroy Julian, starring Edna Mae Harris, and Robert Earl Jones. Lying Lips was the thirty-seventh film of Micheaux. The film was shot at the Biograph Studios in New York City.
Caretta is an unincorporated community located in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. Caretta was named for the transposed syllables in the name of Mrs. Etta Carter, the wife of George Lafayette Carter. It is the only place in the United States with this name.
Amateur rocketry, sometimes known as experimental rocketry or amateur experimental rocketry, is a hobby in which participants experiment with fuels and make their own rocket motors, launching a wide variety of types and sizes of rockets. Amateur rocketeers have been responsible for significant research into hybrid rocket motors, and have built and flown a variety of solid, liquid, and hybrid propellant motors.
Rocket Candy, or R-Candy, is a type of rocket propellant for model rockets made with sugar as a fuel, and containing an oxidizer. The propellant can be divided into three groups of components: the fuel, the oxidizer, and the additive(s). In the past, sucrose was most commonly used as fuel. Modern formulations most commonly use sorbitol for its ease of production. The most common oxidizer is potassium nitrate (KNO3). Potassium nitrate is most commonly found in tree stump remover. Additives can be many different substances, and either act as catalysts or enhance the aesthetics of the liftoff or flight. A traditional sugar propellant formulation is typically prepared in a 65:35 (13:7) oxidizer to fuel ratio.
Todd Landers is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Kristian Schmid. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 15 February 1988. Todd was introduced along with his younger sister Katie Landers. They were given an instant connection to the show through their aunt, Beverly Marshall. After choosing to leave the serial in 1991, Schmid suggested to the producers that his character should be killed off, and Todd died in the episode broadcast on 13 July 1992. He reappeared as a spirit in the following episode.
Dorothy Spinner is a fictional character created by Paul Kupperberg, appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was a former member of the Doom Patrol with the ability to bring imaginary beings to life. She first appeared in Doom Patrol vol. 2, #14 as a background character until she was made a full member a few issues later.
Wind at My Back is a television series which aired in Canada on CBC Television between 1996 and 2001. It was created and produced by Kevin Sullivan, best known for his adaptation of Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea. The series had five seasons, each with 13 episodes, and a Christmas-themed movie produced to wrap up loose ends, following the unexpected cancellation of the series.
Carmel Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gemma Merna. She debuted on-screen during episodes airing on 13 August 2006 and was introduced by series producer Bryan Kirkwood as part of the McQueen family. Carmel has proved popular with fans with her comedic personality and has become notable for her "dumb blonde" appearance. Carmel was killed-off as she saved her cousin, Theresa McQueen from Sonny Valentine during the "End of the Line" storyline. Her most prominent storylines include her marriage and divorce from Sonny's brother Calvin Valentine, her facial disfigurement after a tanning machine explodes in her face, remarrying Calvin which ends in tragedy after he was shot dead by Theresa, her relationship with Jim McGinn, her feud with Theresa and infatuation with Theresa and Calvin's daughter Kathleen-Angel McQueen, beginning a relationship with Sonny and being killed in an explosion following a train crash at her cousin Porsche McQueen's wedding reception.
William Woodward Jr. was the heir to the Hanover National Bank fortune, the Belair Estate and stud farm and legacy, and a leading figure in racing circles before he was shot to death by his wife, Ann Woodward, in what Life magazine called the "Shooting of the Century".
Elsie Venner: A Romance of Destiny is an 1861 novel by American author and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Later dubbed the first of his "medicated novels", it tells the story of a young woman whose mother was bitten by a rattlesnake while pregnant, which imbued the child with some characteristics of the reptile. Bernard Langdon, who takes a teaching job at Elsie's school, becomes curious about her, even as he slightly fears her.
Sky of Stone is the third in a trilogy of memoirs by Homer Hickam, Jr. about his hometown of Coalwood, West Virginia, that began with October Sky.
The Coalwood Way (2000) is the second memoir in a series of three, by Homer Hickam, Jr. The Coalwood Way is a story of the Rocket Boys and Coalwood. Homer calls it an "equal," rather than a sequel because the story happens during the same timeframe as the first book. Today, it is one of the most often picked community/library reads in the United States. It is also studied in many school systems around the world. The Coalwood Way (2000) is followed by Sky of Stone (2002), and preceded by October Sky (1998).
"Skipper" is the name of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets' cannon that is sounded at home football games and other events. The game cannon was created by a group of cadets in 1963 for Virginia Tech football games and special events.
