Stormy Genius; The Life of Aviation's Maverick, Bill Lear

Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Good. 24 cm. [12], 401, [3] pages. Illustrations. Patents. Selected Bibliography. Notes. Index. Some wear, soiling, and edge tears to DJ. William Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 - May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding the Lear Jet Corporation, a manufacturer of business jets. He also invented the battery eliminator for the B battery, and developed the 8-track cartridge, an audio tape system. Throughout his career of 46 years, Lear received over 120 patents. Richard L. Rashke (born 1936) is an American journalist, teacher and author, who has written non-fiction books, as well as plays and screenplays. He is especially known for his history, Escape from Sobibor, first published in 1982, an account of the mass escape in October 1943 of hundreds of Jewish prisoners from the extermination camp at Sobibor in German-occupied Poland. Drawn to compelling stories, including Bill Lear, an aviation engineer and inventor who did not get beyond seventh grade. Bill Lear did more in his unorthodox way to make the skies safe for pilots than an other man of his era. "Bill stirred men's blood," said one of Lear's employees, and after reading this spirited biography by the author of The Killing of Karen Silkwood, the reader understands why. Although lacking formal education, especially in science, Lear was an inventive genius, his interests ranging from radio to airplanes, wire recorders, prefabricated homes and steam-powered cars. His patents included a radio direction finder and an automatic pilot for planes, and the eight-track tape, designed originally for automobile stereos. And, while he focused on his invention of the moment with monomaniacal intensity, Lear found time to contract four marriages and sire seven children. A stubborn, opinionated, difficult man who made and lost several fortunes, his technological intuition rarely led him astray, although he was ill-suited to manage his various companies. His life story is absorbing." Publishers Weekly.