We're not sure what newspaper it came from specifically but it certainly is a Denver paper. A trillion thanks to Phyllis Jane Specht for sending this to me and bringing it to Duane's attention.
I wrote the following poem for Capt. Fred Gray (pilot
of the bombed Continental airliner) on the occasion of his 50th birthday. Would
you print this as a eulogy for the finest pilot to ever take the controls of an
airplane?
TOP O' CLIMB
The big jet starts to roll reluctantly,
For flight ahead is long and there is fuel
Which must be burdened, else
It cannot be.
That cunning will be victor in the duel
With Time and Space.
What power it takes to lift away from ground-
To blast such heavy burden into flight!
A thousand banshees couldn't wail the sound,
A thousand winged horses match the might of this great
bird!
Her climb is rapid, now that speed is gained.
She flashes upward, forward, winning free;
But still the awful power must be sustained
To lift her into Nature's rarest sea
Far, in the sky.
At top o'climb, the battle all but won,
She settles down, her only labor just
To cruise a close companion to the sun.
Before she drops her power to "idle thrust",
Descends the other side.
RICHARD S. GRIGSBY
Capt. Continental Air Lines
1 comment:
As a post-script we managed to track down Captain Richard S. Grigsby in April 2014. He passed away on Feb 5th 2014. He was born in 1921.
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