One of the best short stories of my younger years; While not strictly YA I would have no hesitation recommending it to those readers. A. Bowdoin Van Riper (2004). Imagining flight: aviation and popular culture. Texas A&M University Press. pp.125–26. ISBN 978-1-58544-300-0.

The Shepherd - the film! (?) | Secret Projects Forum The Shepherd - the film! (?) | Secret Projects Forum

On Christmas Eve 2016, BBC Radio 3 broadcast a new adaptation by Amber Barnfather for Between the Ears, performed by actor Luke Thompson. [3] Sound design was by David Chilton, with music and mouth/body percussion by the Saint Martin Singers specially recorded for the production at the church of St Giles in the Fields, and Vampire aircraft sound effects specially recorded at the Royal Air Force Museum London. Between the Ears: The Shepherd won a 2017 New York Festivals Radio Gold Award. [4] In April 2017, Between the Ears won the ‘Most Original Podcast’ Gold Award at the inaugural British Podcast Awards. [5] But despite that and after some very anxious moments,his rescuer guides him to safety,waves in farewell and disappears.But who was he and where has the aircraft landed,just when it ran out of fuel ?Can he somehow be saved from his dire predicament ? Can someone guide him to safety ? It seems his prayers have been heard.A rescue aircraft appears,though it is of a slower,obsolete variety. As it Happens' 50th anniversary edition". CBC Radio. CBC Radio One. 16 November 2018 . Retrieved 17 November 2018. Audio at about 32:30. Oh dear.... Whilst Travolta is an aviation enthusiast (so can't be all bad ) he's all wrong for that role. If anything, his age should preclude him from that role. This is a short simple story, following a pilot on his way home for Christmas and the misfortune he faces.

Frederick Forsyth The Shepherd - Archive.org Frederick Forsyth The Shepherd - Archive.org

A pilot heading home to England on Christmas Eve in the 1950's suffers instrument and radio failure over the English channel. Alone and in the dark, he's waiting for his fuel to run out when he sees the Shepard. Forsyth creates a gripping tale with an unembroidered, absolutely convincing prose style that will likely have you finishing it in one sitting. A former pilot himself, Forsyth's aviation sequences are completely realistic and never overshadow the human story but become a vital part of it. It's 1957 & a 20 y/o RAF pilot stationed in Germany wants to fly home to England for Christmas in his Vampire jet fighter of the day. It's a beautiful night full of stars but about 20 minutes into his flight things go terribly wrong with his instruments necessary to navigate and to add to his dilemma, his radio is out. Trying not to panic, he recalls his training for emergencies and begins to put them in place. Thoughts of death begin to creep in as he uses up fuel with no help in sight. In 2022, John Travolta confirmed that he is currently filming a cinematic version of The Shepherd on location in West Raynham, Norfolk. [6] See also [ edit ] Have not found anything about the Travolta project on IMDb but did find someone using MS Flight simulator to act out the story and an animated short film someone made about two years ago I'd never heard of before. So to calm nerves, here they are...Forsyth created this original work as a Christmas gift to his first wife Carrie after she requested a ghost story be written for her. Written on Christmas Day 1974, and published near that time a year later, the idea came while trying to think of a setting away from the typical haunted homes, and seeing planes flying overhead. Many have speculated references to preexisting RAF folklore. While Forsyth is a former RAF pilot and could have heard and adapted such a story (either with or without the intent to do so) no references or anecdotal evidence have been put forward to support such claims. Every Christmas with one or two exceptions the CBC News show "As It Happens" has since 1979 played an audio recording of The Shepard. The pilot thought Kavanaugh must have bought his old Mosquito with JK painted on it, still flew it on occasion, had seen a plane in distress and directed it to his old base. Before Joe left the room he told the pilot that Kavanaugh died on Christmas Eve, 1943, when he went down with his plane in the North Sea. It is a beautifully written novella.The prose is elegant and there is sustained tension .Forsyth would later turn to writing political thrillers,but for me,this is his best book. The lieutenant told him Joe, the mess steward, was preparing a room for him. Joe started a fire in the room’s fireplace, brought the pilot food, and stayed to talk. The mess steward said he worked at RAF Minton for twenty years. During the war there had been many young fliers, but the best one had been John Kavanaugh, who had had the room they were now in. The pilot walked over to a framed old photo of a young pilot beside a Mosquito with JK painted on its nose. Joe said that during the war, after the squadron had returned, John Kavanaugh would refuel his Mosquito and go out alone, searching for any crippled bombers to guide them home.