Book Review: Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars by Eileen M. Collins

About:

Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission by Eileen M. Collins and Jonathan H. Ward is a biography of this pioneer pilot and astronaut. Col. Collins is one of the more famous pioneers in aviation, this is her first book.

• 344 pages
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Arcade
  
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1950994058

My rating for Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars – 5
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Thoughts:

I heard of Col. Collins previously, and was anxious to read her long awaited memoir. Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission by Eileen M. Collins and Jonathan H. Ward undoubtedly did not disappoint.

Without a doubt, Col. Collins lived an amazing life, and still does. She had a career which, undoubtedly, many of us can only dream of, but a pioneer who will be forever in the history books as well.

The author tells of her childhood in Elmira, NY, her military career in the US Air Force, being a test pilot, and of course her time in NASA too. I furthermore enjoyed all the little anecdotes which are memorable in anyone’s life.

Her time as a pilot, test pilot, as well as astronaut (pilot and commander) are the majority of the book. The author doesn’t dwell on the nuances of her roles, important but not as exciting, in between missions. She makes sure to concentrate on the valuable lessons she has learned, as well as the excellent advice she is qualified to give.

The book is certainly easy to read, without much technical jargon, a la First Man. I enjoyed reading further about Col Collins’ journey to become an astronaut. It took time, planning, patience, and resilience. While there are many lessons in this book, this is the one that I think will stick with me.

It is obvious that the book is written with leadership lessons in mind. Most likely for Col Collins to reinvent herself as a public speaker on this subject. Altogether, I think that’s fantastic, we need persons like her to reach out to the community to share their experiences and what they learned.

Buy Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars from Amazon.com*
More Books by Eileen M. Collins*
More Books by Jonathan H. Ward*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account