The Monett Times, Monett MO, July 2003
Armchair pilots who have enjoyed the works of Richard Bach should prepare to sit back...and fly...

Midwest Book Review, September 2003
...the most vivid impressions of biplane flying experience to be had without actually climbing into one and taking off.

The Spirit, Punxsutawney PA, August 2003
...remarkable detail and poetic voice...from technical explanations... to character portraits of those she meets along the way...

Daily Sun, Beatrice, Nebraska, August 2003
...smooth beautifully crafted language...

The Voyageur Sentinel, Orr, Minnesota, August 2003
...will remind you that we should all have a place...where we feel completely free and at ease...

The Times Record, Brunswick, ME, October 2003
She writes in an honest, open manner in which she shares her love for flying and her zest for life.

Wings of Gold: The Voice of Naval Aviation Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Fall 2003
...vividly describes her experiences... An exceptionally well-written book.

Download Description
Sticks & Wires & Cloth is about escaping into the skies of a bygone era in a 1929-design biplane, an episodic log of the author's five years traveling around Texas and most of the rest of the United States. Anne Hopkins brings a fresh voice to writing about life in the skies, demystifying biplane flying much as Katherine Graham did newspaper publishing in her memoir. Firmly and patiently, Anne takes her reader by the hand, helps him into the front cockpit, and keeps him there through fair weather and foul, sharing moments of joy and terror. Her story is full of the details of coping with an old cramped aircraft, yet in the end she has left us savoring its magic and wonder. This is a book for everyone who ever thought about flying. It will remind pilots of all the good reasons they fly. It will propel those who have only dreamed of flying along the path toward that first flight. Those who know pilots will understand why to them flying is like breathing, an essential element of life. Those who have always feared flying will see that despite all the writing about calm and fearless pilots, pilots are sometimes afraid, too, but as the Anne writes in one chapter, "'Twas a Pleasing Fear."

SYNOPSIS

Sticks & Wires & Cloth is about escaping into the skies of a bygone era in a 1929-design biplane, an episodic log of the author￯﾿ﾽs five years traveling around Texas and most of the rest of the United States. Anne Hopkins brings a fresh voice to writing about life in the skies, demystifying biplane flying much as Katherine Graham did newspaper publishing in her memoir. Firmly and patiently, Anne takes her reader by the hand, helps him into the front cockpit, and keeps him there through fair weather and foul, sharing moments of joy and terror. Her story is full of the details of coping with an old cramped aircraft, yet in the end she has left us savoring its magic and wonder.

This is a book for everyone who ever thought about flying. It will remind pilots of all the good reasons they fly. It will propel those who have only dreamed of flying along the path toward that first flight. Those who know pilots will understand why to them flying is like breathing, an essential element of life. Those who have always feared flying will see that despite all the writing about calm and fearless pilots, pilots are sometimes afraid, too, but as the Anne writes in one chapter, ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽTwas a Pleasing Fear.￯﾿ﾽ

FROM THE CRITICS

Midwest Book Review - Oregon, Wisconsin

the most vivid impressions of biplane flying experience to be had without actually climbing into one and taking off. Sticks & Wires & Cloth is a unique and welcome addition to any personal or community library Aviation Studies collection.

Daily Sun - Beatrice, Nebraska

smooth beautifully crafted language...

Wings of Gold - The Voice of Naval Aviation Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

An exceptionally well-written book...

The Monett Times - Monett Missouri

Armchair pilots who have enjoyed the works of Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston seagull, Stranger to the Ground, Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah) should prepare to sit back in the easy chair and fly the skies with Anne Hopkins and￯﾿ﾽ the bundle of ￯﾿ﾽsticks and wires and cloth￯﾿ﾽ that forms the unforgettable Nanna.

The Spirit - Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania