by Robert T. Hohler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 24, 1986
A predictable biography of the 36-year-old high-school teacher who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28. 1986. It was bound to be written sooner or later, and the fact that it has been written sooner may be the best indication of its merit. Hohler, the reporter who covered McAuliffe for her hometown Concord Monitor, has compiled much material to prepare this memorial to ""a teacher who asked nothing more than to be an ordinary woman on an extraordinary mission."" McAuliffe's ordinariness is, in fact, a major theme here. Hohler tells us that in high school, she was ""not the most beautiful or brilliant girl in her class""; that her husband was helpless in the kitchen; that her son is enamoured of a certain type of stuffed frog: that she was able to be equally charming with Ronald Reagan, Johnny Carson. her social-studies students and her hairdresser--and that she was very, very excited to be going up into space. From the moment of her selection on June 19, 1985, until her death the following January, this ordinary woman was the subject (one is tempted to say the victim, except that she seemed to enjoy it) of a massive publicity campaign: and it is this exposure that Hohler (who contributed to it) takes as another theme. But rather than try to understand its meaning, Hohler has chosen instead to repeat and expand upon everything that we already know. His apparent wish to avoid drawing controversial conclusions--whether about McAuliffe, NASA, the Reagan Administration, the Teacher-in-Space Program, or the role of journalists as propaganda tools--leaves us as puzzled and shocked by the whole situation as we were to begin with. Hohler's book reaffirms the McAuliffe we had always envisioned, a sweet good teacher from New Hampshire who took a risk for a cause she believed in, and died. It doesn't venture beyond that, as a true memorial should have.
Pub Date: Nov. 24, 1986
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: N/A
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1986
Categories: NONFICTION
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