Into the Blue: A Father's Flight and a Daughter's Return

by Susan Edsall

The Chicago Sun Times praises " Into the Blue is Susan Edsall's fascinating chronicle of the fight to get her father back into his beloved Big Sky...an engagingly readable testament to an everyday courage....Salted with hilarious memories of Edsall family life, peppered with touching reminiscences of flight with her father, [Edsall] mixes the positive with the painful until it's not only palatable but also poignant."

Three years ago, Susan Edsall's father, a rebuilder and pilot of antique airplanes, suffered a devastating stroke that left him unable to read, write, speak, tell time, understand the alphabet---or fly. The doctors told Susan the best her family could hope for was that he would learn to play checkers. Susan knew if her dad couldn't fly, he'd just as soon not breathe, so she chose another path. Battling the pessimistic conclusion of the experts---and her own looming fears---she and her sister, Sharon, aka the Blister Sisters, decided to take matters into their own hands. With no medical training but double doses of determination, they bushwhacked their own rehab program and got their father back behind the controls of his beloved open-cockpit biplane and into the air.

Susan Edsall's Into the Blue is a powerful family memoir about two feisty sisters from Montana who bring their father back to life---and discover themselves in the process. Inspiring, gritty, and often hilarious, it's also the story of anyone who has ever fought back from a dire prognosis to pursue a cherished dream.

Genres: Book Club, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read "Into the Blue" and absolutely loved it. I recommend it especially to people who have had loved ones suffer a stroke, but it is a timeless story about love, grit, and overcoming life's obstacles that is universally appealing.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This lady lived up the road from us but I never knew her or about her. When our daughter was a senior at Montana State she interned at the Pioneer Museum and this lady's father was financing an exhibit on early flight in Montana. Our daughter and two friends had the pleasure of setting up the exhibit and doing all the early work to get it ready. She also flew with him and his friend, Bud, landing on a dirt runway. When I read this book I was so amazed at the tenacity of the author and her sister and the patience and determination of their Dad to overcome a severe stroke and fly again. Reading it, I kept thinking --now he is flying again, active in getting an exhibit about something he loves deeply and this, despite the roadblocks thrown in their way by the " medical establishment"! Amazing

[Skk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read!

I wanted to read this, after my husband said it was so good. Not really hurrying to do it until my sister recently had a stroke. After starting it I couldn't put it down. I just hope and pray my sister recovers in the way Wayne did. I feel sure she will give it her all!

[Kendall]

Been looking for this book for a loooooong time. Saw the author(s) on a talk show once and was very inspired.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A daughter's fight to help her dad reclaim his ability to pilot his own plane.... after a devastating stroke. If you or anyone you love has suffered from stroke, you'll find great hope in this story.

[Katherine Georges · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing story of a daughter helping her father overcome after he suffered a stroke.

[Blaine Morrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pilot (the author's father) suffers a stroke and the family rallies around the task of recovering him and getting him back his wings. Inspiring, sometimes amusing, very human.