A Shooting Star Meets the Well of Death, Why and How Richard Halliburton Conquered the World

by William R. Taylor

AMAZING STUNTS, IMPROBABLE ADVENTURES, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR-RICHARD HALLIBURTON WAS ALL OF THESE AND SO MUCH MORE AS THIS CAREFULLY RESEARCHED, EXCITING BIOGRAPHY SHOWS. ..".entertaining and very well-researched...This book should be high on any traveler's reading list."-Ian Usher (traveler, writer, adventurer, speaker - author of Life Sold). ..".an interesting and sometimes funny book about a man who should have a book next to Lindbergh and Earhart."-Henry H. Holden, author of "Great Women in Aviation #2 - Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes. PRINCETON GRADUATE HALLIBURTON VAULTED ONTO THE BEST SELLER LIST WITH HIS FIRST TRAVEL/ADVENTURE BOOK AND NEVER LOOKED BACK. HE BLASTED OUT SIX MORE OF THE SAME DESPITE INNER CONFLICTS AND BATTLES WITH CRITICS THEN VANISHED IN WAGNERIAN SPLENDOR WHILE SAILING A GAUDY CHINESE JUNK INTO A 1939 PACIFIC TYPHOON. ..".Was Halliburton a daring adventurer...or...a dilettante who...staged spectacular stunts?...Both...are true...and this is the fascination of his paradoxical personality."--Jerry Camarillo Dunn, Jr., longtime writer for the National Geographic Society, author of My Favorite Place on Earth. ..".we hope many readers will share our memories of this unique man and his adventures, and welcome this fine work into your libraries."-Robert J. Gormley, former publisher Northeastern University Press, Orbis Books and Chatham House Publishers; Beatrice Gormley, author of YA biographies including the forthcoming Nelson Mandela, Simon & Schuster, 2014). "Taylor...revives the memory of this dashing debonair of derring-do. A welcome addition to the libraries of all aficionados of adventure literature. Bravo."-Scott Wallace, author of The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes

282 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2013

About the author

A published travel, self-improvement, humor, and technical article writer, I have presented technical papers at national and international conferences in addition to lecturing about Halliburton at colleges, historical societies and libraries.

I completed creative and technical writing courses from The University of Wisconsin at Madison and Milwaukee, the University of Chicago, and Marquette University. I also have an Electrical Engineering degree from Marquette University.

I was a design engineer for both General Motors on the Apollo project and for General Electric on the first CT Scanner. My next book, “Twelve Who Dared,” deals with courageous men and women who pitted themselves against overwhelming odds then willed themselves to succeed.

As a youngster he was inspired by Richard Halliburton's tenacity, love of history and incredible feats. I never forgot my own love of writing and my fascination with Halliburton's convoluted life story. This led to many hours of research and many miles of travel to objectively unearth the true story, warts and all, of the intellectual adventurer who so influenced my own life.

I presently live in New Berlin, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Kelly Sedinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're fortunate enough to have read the travel writings of Richard Halliburton--a colorful adventurer who lived in the early 20th century--then you may be interested in an account of his life beyond his writings; if so, you should check this book out. Halliburton was a very colorful figure indeed, a man who seemed to be in constant motion and who approached everything he did with wild enthusiasm, even if his planning was sometimes not the greatest. (In fact, his tendency to not always think things through would end up costing him his life when the Chinese junk he was attempting to pilot across the Pacific was lost in a storm.) This is a well-researched biography that helpfully sets the events of Halliburton's life and his various expeditions into the context of the events of the day.

Halliburton is sometimes forgotten among the notable adventurers of his time, but he doesn't deserve to be.

[William Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joan Suchomel reviewed A Shooting Star Meets the Well of Death

Delightful! August 9, 2016
This book is meticulously researched and lovingly crafted. I particularly enjoyed the way Mr. Taylor shared his own experiences of discovery as he wove the story of Halliburton's life. Now that I've read this book, I'm surprised that Halliburton is not given a larger profile in history. In fact, I had never heard of Richard Halliburton, but I found his story to be so compelling that I obtained a (worn) copy of Halliburton's...Read More

[Amb William · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about a wonderful man, Lets pretend he an Amelia met on some pacific Isle and led there life out together. Amb William Hans Weiss