Zach Schroedel
Join us for book signings Friday and Saturday, October 18 & 19, at Skydive Perris where you can purchase and have the authors autograph your favorite skydiving books!  (A portion of all book sales benefit the International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame.)
  • Come Up and Get Me by Colonel Joe Kittinger.  Col Joe joins author Craig Ryan to document an astonishing career exploring aeronautical feats and propelling Americans into space using the worlds oldest flying machine - the balloon. Col Joe was command pilot and carer military officer in the US Air Force. He is most famous for setting the records for having the highest, fastest and longest skydive, from an altitude of 102,800 feet above the earth. He was also the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon. Serving as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, he achieved an aerial kill of a North Vietnamese MiG-21 jet fighter and was later shot down himself, spending 11 months as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese prison. What an amazing life! The list of military and civilian awards is long and distinguished but despite his many accolades, Col Joe's proudest moment remains his free fall from 102,800 feet during which he achieved a speed of 614 miles per hour.

 

  • Above All Else by Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld.  Dan "BC" tells the story from his introduction to skydiving through the journey to becoming a World Champion 4-Way and 8-Way competitor. Along the way, he was in a plane crash in the early '90s where 16 skydivers on board died including some of his teammates and he was seriously injured. Dan BC tells his story of overcoming overwhelming odds to return to skydiving spending more than three decades in 4-way competition. Today, he continues in the sport as one of the most highly sought after 4-way and 8-way coaches in the world. His story is filled with lots of very interest history on the evolution of competitive skydiving in the U.S. and the world. This is a compelling and uplifting true story of overcoming obstacles, perseverance and all that it takes to become the best in the world in a sport. 

 

  • Skydivers' Stories, Volumes 1 and 2.  Editors: Tim Long, Doug Garr, Jan Works and Michael “Kearnsey” Kearns - all members of Skydiver Resurrection Award (SRA).  Two volumes of Skydivers’ Stories recall those thrilling days of yester-year—and some days not so long ago—in adventurous tales told by those who lived them. Along with scary stories, it includes adventures that are funny, thrilling, and memorable. Some of Your Favorite People May Be in These Books. Celebrating skydiving’s story-tellers. Two volumes of Skydivers’ Stories recall those thrilling days of yester-year—and some days not so long ago—in adventurous tales told by those who lived them. The first book, “NSTIWTIWGD”, first published in 2015 with 149 contributors, was the brainchild of Tim Long, who formed the popular Facebook group Skydiver Resurrection Award (or SRA) which acknowledges skydivers who quit and then came back to make at least one more jump after a 10-year gap. The sequel, “More Skydivers’ Stories: Close Calls and Epic Feats Above Planet Earth” was published in 2019. Throughout this book there are QR (Quick Response) codes readers can use to access online videos featuring either the storyteller or the story’s subject via their mobile device.  The editors have pledged to donate all profits of both books to the International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame.

 

  • Selections skydiving photo book by Michael McGowan, freefall photographer extraordinaire. Now for the first time, you can look through Mike McGowans' viewfinder and see skydiving as only he could. This giant, perfect coffee table book, has some of the most amazing shots in skydiving. This is a fine-art book that documents more than 50 years of skydiving history through more than 100 of Mike's finest photographs.   A MUST have for every skydiver and a great Christmas present. Mikes’s longtime friend and colleague Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld said, “Mike has put his heart, soul and passion into every picture he’s taken, and you can see it in his work. Whether it was world records, students, stunts or boogie loads of every discipline, Mike brought the best out of everyone in front of his cameras. In his photos you can see and feel the energy and emotion of the skydivers being filmed, as well as that of Mike himself. It’s truly magical.” 

 

  • My First 1,000 Jumps, The Evolution of a Skydiver and the Organization that Became His Life by Norm Heaton. The only comprehensive history of the early days of the sport of skydiving yet published.  It is the story of not just one skydiver but the story of many, the true pioneers of the sport accompanied by over 400 photos of the author and the other players of the skydiving world.  Longtime skydiving advocate Norm Heaton’s recent release “My First 1,000 Jumps: The Evolution of a Skydiver and the Organization That Became His Life” is the firsthand account of the author’s path to becoming a dedicated Chief Executive Officer of the Parachute Club of America/US Parachute Association. Norm Heaton explained of his inspiration behind this work “A major reason for writing this memoir is to have a record, not only of my activities but also the workings of the national organization that represents us all, the United States Parachute Association, in those years from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s,” 

  • Skies Call book series and posters by Andy Keech.  The first skydiving coffee table book, back in the day, this series has some text but mostly it's pictures...good ones, from the days before huge formations and when getting 10 people together in a "star" formation was a real accomplishment, partly because the aircraft was limited for seating, and partly because that's all that had been figured out for freefall work. Andy started skydiving in 1959, when the sport was just taking hold in his native Australia and became the first in his country to make contact with another jumper in a free fall. Keech went on to become a national champion parachutist and a top scorer for his team in a world competition.  When he came to the United States, he continued skydiving, resumed piloting (which he started at age 17) and became one of the world’s top freefall photographers, earning assignments with Sports IllustratedTime and other publications. He has compiled his work in a three-book series, Skies Call. "Behind each picture is a half-hour story we could talk about," he said.