In Regards to the Caidin Novels
A prolific writer of over 150 scientific and fictional books, Martin Caidin was known as the "Hemingway of the Air," with a passion for living life to the fullest. As an orphan, he dreamed of escaping his life of abuse and drudgery by flying one of those beautiful birds in the sky. When he was 16, he stole an airplane for his first flight and was able to take off and land without putting a scratch on it. The relieved owner was so impressed that he offered to give Caidin flying lessons.
In 1955, Caidin worked secretly with Dr. Wernher von Braun and a small research group at Cape Canaveral to build the nation's first top secret moon rocket. While researching the Soviet space program and the life of Cosmonaut Gherman Stepanovich Titov, Caidin co-authored with Titov the book I Am Eagle. From this association came Caidin's best seller Marooned which was about American astronauts stranded in space and rescued by Soviet cosmonauts. Made into a blockbuster movie and filmed at Cape Canaveral with Caidin directing construction of the space capsule, every detail was so scientifically accurate (a trademark of all of Caidin's works) that it was officially sanctioned by NASA.
At the time the movie was filmed, Russia was totally against any joint manned space missions with the United States. However, when the movie was shown to the Soviet Academy of Science and the cosmonauts, they reversed their decision. According to both Phillip Handler, former president of the American Academy of Science, and official NASA reports, Caidin's movie Marooned was the major factor in the collaborative space effort leading to the Apollo-Soyuz joint U.S./Soviet space mission. To this day all Russian and American spacecraft have "common docking mechanisms" to allow for the possibility of future rescues.
Many of Caidin's books made it to Hollywood, another big success being Final Countdown. His book Cyborg was made into The Six Million Dollar Man as well as The Bionic Woman. Ironically, Cyborg was originally titled Miracle People, a non-fiction work about altering human bodies to allow them to function in space, but publishers wouldn't buy it. Most of Caidin's novels are based on fact, but many are on such sensitive subjects that in order to get them approved by government intelligence he had to include some fiction. Although pressed, he refused to tell which parts were factual. Two such books are The Mendelov Conspiracy (about UFOs) and The Messiah Stone which he said is 90 percent factual.
Caidin was as well known for his technically oriented nonfiction books as he was the big blockbuster novels. Whichever form his books took, one quality stood out -- the Caidin mark of strict scientific accuracy. The National War College, The Air University of the U.S. Air Force, and many other educational, training and special institutions use Caidin books as doctrine and strategy guides, historical references, and textbooks. He served as a nuclear warfare specialist for several states and was active with the Air Commandos and Strike Command in research about paramilitary strike teams.
An author who "lived what he wrote," Caidin spent five weeks with the famous USAF Thunderbirds jet aerobatic team. His book Thunderbirds! has gone through 22 printings and is still acclaimed as a classic documentary on the Air Force's aerial demonstration unit. Awarded the title "Thunderbird 8" by the team, Caidin is the only civilian ever to have lived and fly with them. He also flew as a stunt pilot on such films as The War Lover, The Battle of Britain, & The Longest Day and is famous for his breathtaking performances at leading airshow events.
Other nonfictional works such as Zero! and Samurai! resulted from Caidin's work while assigned to Air Force intelligence in Japan. He worked directly with Jiro Horikoshi (designer of the Zero fighter plane) and Masatake Okumiya (Chief of Japanese Navy intelligence in World War II).
The awards and honors beside Caidin's name are far too numerous to mention. He was a charter member of the Aviation Hall of Fame, founder of the American Astronautical Society, a member of the Missile, Range and Space Pioneers, and a Command Pilot for the following organizations: Confederate Air Force, Valiant Air Command, Warbirds of America, Experimental Aircraft Association, and Canadian Warplane Heritage.
Martin Caidin took on the role of delivering two novels to Lucas about Indiana Jones. During the course, he fell terminally ill. Not being a man to go against his word, he finished what he started.
Martin Caidin died of thyroid cancer March 24th, 1997 after a bitter struggle. He was 69.
Please, think of this when referring to his Indiana Jones books. He worked until the end.