Ernest Kellogg Gann (October 13, 1910 - December 19, 1991) was an aviator, author, filmmaker, sailor, fisherman and conservationist. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Gann was best known as a skilled aviator. He was the scion of a prosperous family; his father was an executive with General Telephone and Telegraph. Resisting his father's strong wish that he follow in the telephone business, Ernest became interested in the then-new field of aviation, and became an accomplished pilot. He flew everything from World War I aircraft to the U-2 and F-15, and brought his deep love of flight to the written page and silver screen. October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... A sailor is a member of the crew of a ship or boat. ... A fisherman in central Chile A Long Island fisherman cleans his nets A fisherman (in recent years sometimes called a fisher to be non-gender specific), is a person who engages in the activity of fishing. ... Conservationists are those people who tend to more highly rank the wise use of the Earths resources and ecosystems. ... Nickname: Star City Location in Nebraska Coordinates: Country   State     County United States   Nebraska     Lancaster Founded[1]   Renamed   Incorporated 1856   July 29, 1867   April 1, 1869 Mayor Coleen Seng Area    - City 195. ... Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul... The Lockheed U-2R/TR-1 in flight The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed Dragon Lady, is a single-seat, single-engine, high-altitude surveillance aircraft flown by the United States Air Force. ... The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter designed to permit the U.S. Air Force to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. ...

He became a film producer as a teenager in St. Paul, Minnesota, and later attended the Yale School of Drama. After his studies at Yale, Gann worked in New York at Radio City Music Hall and as a commercial movie cartoonist, a stunt pilot, and barnstormer. State capitol building in Saint Paul Saint Paul is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Minnesota in the United States of America. ... Yale School of Drama traces its roots to the Yale Dramatic Association, the second oldest college theatre association in the country, founded in 1900. ... YALE (Yet Another Learning Environment) is an environment for machine learning experiments and data mining. ... Radio City Music Hall at Christmas 2005 Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... A cartoonist at work. ...

A chance encounter landed Gann a job with "The March of Time," a documentary film company associated with TIME magazine. In 1936, while working on the feature "Inside Nazi Germany," Gann narrowly escaped Hitler’s advancing troops as they marched into the Rhineland. Returning to New York, he moved to a new home where the lure of a local airport rekindled his interest in aviation. Earning a pilot’s license, he spent his free time aloft until the Great Depression ended his career in motion pictures. He took his family to California, worked odd jobs at Burbank Airport, and began to write short stories, but soon returned to New York, and, in 1938, began to fly the DC-2 and DC-3 for American Airlines. The March of Time was a newsreel that was shown in movie theaters from 1935 - 1951. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Two distinct views exist on the meaning of time. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... The Rhineland (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany, although some consider the lands to the east of the river culturally distinct, jovially referring to them as Schäl Sick; the bad or wrong side... Aviation refers to flying using aircraft, machines designed by humans for atmospheric flight. ... The Great Depression an economic downturn which started in 1929 (although its effects were not fully felt until late 1930) and lasted through most of the 1930s. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Bob Hope Airport, formerly known as the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, is located in Burbank, California, United States (including Hawaii). ... This article is in need of attention. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Douglas DC-2 was a 14-seat, twin-propeller airliner produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation starting in 1934. ... Douglas DC-3 VH-AES at Avalon in 2003. ... American Airlines and American Eagle aircraft at San Juan American Airlines (AA) is the largest airline in the world in terms of total passengers transported and fleet size, and the second-largest airline in the world (behind Air France-KLM) in terms of total operating revenues. ...

Captain Gann flew for American Airlines and later, when a portion of American and other U.S. airlines were absorbed into the U.S. Army Air Corps Air Transport Command during World War II, flew DC-3's, DC-4's and C-87s, the cargo version of the B-24. These trips took him across the North Atlantic, Africa and India, among others. His travels worldwide would become part of his many novels and screenplays in the years to come. After the war, Gann left American Airlines, when it discontinued international flying. His adventures with Matson Airlines, a new company flying the Pacific to Honolulu, spawned ideas that were developed into one of his best works, Fate Is the Hunter. Matson Airlines was a venture of the Matson steamship line, but failed to effectively compete with the politically well-connected Pan American. When Matson Airlines folded, Gann turned to writing. 1. ... The Air Transport Command was the World War II-era Army Air Corps (later Army Air Force) precursor to what became the Air Force Military Air Transport Service, then Military Airlift Command and eventually the Air Mobility Command. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... The designation DC-4 was used by Douglas Aircraft Company when developing the DC-4E as a large, four-engined type to complement its forthcoming DC-3 design. ... Royal Canadian Air Force B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft, and was used by most of the Allied air forces in World War II. Designed as a heavy bomber, it served with distinction not only in that... For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation) The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... A screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture. ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ... Honolulu as seen from the International Space Station Honolulu is the largest city and the capital of the U.S. state of Hawai‘i. ... Fate is the Hunter is an autobiographical book by American author Ernest K. Gann. ...

In 1966, he and his wife Dodie (Post) purchased an 800 acre ranch on San Juan Island, Washington, that signaled the beginning of his second love, environmental conservation. To that end, he and Dodie donated the bulk of their ranch to the San Juan Island Preservation trust. Gann converted a chicken coop near the ranch house into a writing office. He equipped it with a barber's chair, in which he wrote all his later works. On his death, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) moved the entire coop and its furnishings to their aviation museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where it is on public display. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... A forest on San Juan Island San Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington, USA. Washington State Ferries serves Friday Harbor, which is San Juan Islands major population center, the San Juan County seat, and the only incorporated town... Official language(s) None Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  Ranked 18th  - Total 71,342 sq mi (184,824 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 6. ... Some conservation ecologists have been concerned about the Amazon rainforest. ... The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. ...

Gann's major works include the novel The High and the Mighty, a collection of vignettes about his flying experiences Fate Is the Hunter, and his autobiography A Hostage to Fortune. Notes and short stories scribbled down during long layovers on his pioneering flights across the North Atlantic became the source of his first serious fiction, Island in the Sky. Inspired by an Arctic rescue mission, it became an immediate best-seller as did Blaze of Noon, a story of early air mail operations. The High and the Mighty is a 1953 fictional novel by Ernest K. Gann based on a real-life trip that he flew as a commercial airline pilot (or Aviator) for American Airlines, from Honolulu to Portland, Oregon. ... The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border Satellite image of the Arctic surface The Arctic is the area around the Earths North Pole, opposite the Antarctican area around the South Pole. ... A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on a list of top-sellers. ... Airmail (or air mail) is mail that is transported by aircraft. ...

The High and the Mighty was not only a number one best-seller, but also, as a movie, was nominated for several Academy Awards. Although many of his 21 best-selling novels show Gann’s devotion to flying, several works, including Song of the Sirens, Twilight for the Gods, and Fiddler’s Green, reflect his love of the sea. His versatility resulted in the television mini-series Masada, based on The Antagonists. Gann was very displeased with the film version of "Fate Is The Hunter", and removed his name from the credits. He later lamented that this decision cost him a fortune in royalties, as the film played interminably on television. The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... This article concerns the process of flying. ... Sea as seen from jetty in Frankston, Australia Look up Sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Ernest K. Gann died on December 19, 1991, in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington. He was 81. A few months prior to his death, Gann made his last flight on the 50th anniversary of his promotion to captain at American Airlines. December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Cars at the entrance to the ferry dock at Friday Harbor. ...

On July 9, 2003, Washington Governor Gary Locke awarded the Medal of Merit (the state’s highest honor) to Gann. July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Former Governor Gary Locke Gary F. Locke (born January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) was the Democratic governor of Washington (1997-2005), and the first Chinese American governor in United States history. ...

Partial list of Gann's books

• Sky Roads, Thomas Y. Crowell Company 1940 Gann's first book. Non Fiction
• All American Aircraft 1941 Non Fiction
• Getting Them Into The Blue 1942 Non Fiction
• Island in the Sky, Viking, 1944
• Blaze of Noon, Holt, 1946
• Benjamin Lawless, Sloane, 1948
• Fiddler's Green, Sloane, 1950
• The High and the Mighty, Sloane, 1952
• Soldier of Fortune, Sloane, 1954
• Trouble with Lazy Ethel, Sloane, 1957
• Twilight for the Gods, Sloane, 1958
• Fate Is the Hunter, Simon & Schuster, 1961
• Of Good and Evil, Simon & Schuster, 1963
• In the Company of Eagles, Simon & Schuster, 1966
• The Song of the Sirens, Simon & Schuster, 1968
• The Antagonists, Simon & Schuster, 1971
• Band of Brothers, Simon & Schuster, 1973
• Ernest K Gann's Flying Circus, Macmillan, 1974
• A Hostage to Fortune (autobiography), Knopf, 1978
• Brain 2000, Doubleday, 1980
• The Aviator, GK Hall, 1981
• The Magistrate: A Novel, Arbor House, 1982
• Gentlemen of Adventure, Arbor House, 1983
• The Triumph: A Novel, Simon and Schuster, 1986
• The Bad Angel, Arbor House, 1987
• The Black Watch: The Men Who Fly America's Secret Spy Planes, Random House, 1989

Partial list of film credits

Writer/Filmography The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ...

• Blaze of Noon (1947) (novel)
• The Raging Tide (1951) (also novel Fiddler's Green)
• Island in the Sky (1953) (technical advisor, also novel)
• The High and the Mighty (1954) (also novel)
• Our Girl Friday (1954) (novel)
• Soldier of Fortune (1955) (also novel)
• Twilight for the Gods (1958) (also novel)
• Fate Is the Hunter (1964) (book)
• The Last Flight of Noah's Ark (1980) (story)
• Masada (1981) (TV miniseries story: The Antagonists)
• The Aviator (1985) (book)

Sources

• A Hostage to Fortune
• Fate Is the Hunter
• Nebraska Center for Writers