Norma Vasquez

“This memo said that Bush was being suspended not just for “failure to meet annual physical examination [flight] as ordered.” It said that Bush also was being suspended for “failure to perform to USAF/ TexANG standards.” That was new. And it was big. The document said that the officer “has made no attempt to meet his training certification or flight physical” and that the officer “expresses desire to transfer out of state including assignment to non-flying billets.” The official story had always been that Lieutenant Bush wanted to go to Alabama to work in a local political race, but this document’s statement about Bush making “no attempt” to meet his certification or to get his physical sounded bad and presented a new context for long-ago events. The document also referred to Bush’s pilot position as “critical.” If that was true, then the long-held claims by the Bush camp that he had been no longer needed as a pilot were untrue.”
― Mary Mapes, Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power

“As I watched the sun come up on the horizon, I could clearly see the thickness of our atmosphere. What I saw during those few seconds really surprised me, because the atmosphere looked scarily thin! To think that this is the only thing that is keeping us alive made me an instant environmentalist. I guess I was always conscientious of our environment, but seeing the planet from that perspective made me realize how fragile our planet is and that we should be good stewards of our environment.”
― José M. Hernández, From Farmworker to Astronaut / De campesino a astronauta: My Path to the Stars / Mi viaje a las estrellas

“Reality didn’t matter. Right and wrong didn’t matter. Winning was the only thing that mattered to any of the people masterminding the slash-and-burn campaigns”
― Mary Mapes, Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power

“Books seem to find me when I’m ready for them, or else I abandon them.”
― Jenn Shapland, My Autobiography of Carson McCullers: A Memoir