Local author weaves fact and rumor to craft novel about lost pilot
Hendersonville author Richard "Dick" DuRose's new book may depart from his earlier work's adherence to non-fiction, but it stands firm in the theme of lost pilots established by his first book, Shooting Star, the story of his aunt Mildred Doran and her flight from California to Hawaii.
More Than A Man Can Stand weaves fact and rumor to tell the story of Paul Redfern, an aviator from Columbia, South Carolina who was lost when he tried to fly from St. Simons Island, Georgia to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a more than 50-hour flight, to best the historic May 1927 flight of Charles Lindbergh, which flew from New York to Paris in 33 hours. Redfern never made it to Rio, instead crashing somewhere in the jungle of Venezuela, never to be found but rumored to live on among the natives.
"That struck me as 'Wow. If he was living with those natives... what kind of a shock that would be to go from the United States,'" DuRose said. "So I made up the story of what happened to him when he crashed in Venezuela."
Past reporting: Remembering early pilot, Nephew writes about aviator aunt
DuRose got the idea for his new book after being invited to the Paul Redfern Aviation Society in Columbia, which, every year on the day Redfern began his fight, meet and toast him. At that toast, a couple people from Venezuela showed a silent video of their fathers, who took part in one of the over 10 rescue expeditions organized to find Redfern.
The video showed members of the expedition speaking with natives, who the expedition members believed would bring Redfern to them the next morning. But, when they woke up, the natives had disappeared without a trace.
"I tried to take as many of the facts that I knew about Redfern and put it in the book and then weave the fiction around that," DuRose said.
A list of sources DuRose used to research Redfern and the natives he may have lived with are included in the book.
More Than A Man Can Stand will appeal to readers interested in adventures, in aviation history of the twenties and the life of the indigenous tribes of South America. Its content is appropriate for age 14 and up.
Before writing books, DuRose was a corporate lawyer, which he said helped develop him into a better writer. He first moved to Hendersonville part-time in 2004, then full-time in 2007 at a friend's suggestion.
In 2011, DuRose's article on his aunt Mildred Doran was published in the Smithsonian. The attention garnered by that article led him to publish his first book, Shooting Star, on the same topic. His second book, 1927, came as a result of the research he did for his first book.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Richard “Dick” DuRose writes More Than A Man Can Stand
