Gay Talese
How wonderful it is that Starr Smith has finally directed a literary light on the personal history of Jimmy Stewart. I welcomed Starr’s book. It’s needed and wanted. Bravo!
noted author & journalist
Walter Cronkite
I have met a few movie stars, but of them all, I think that Jimmy Stewart was most like those modest heroes he portrayed. Now journalist Starr Smith has raised the curtain on Stewart’s gallant service as a bomber pilot and air combat commander in World War II.
from the Foreword
From the Publisher
Montgomery Advertiser“The book is an easy and compelling read … Smith has told an important story and told it extremely well. He has done an exemplary job of telling the other side of Stewart’s remarkable life and his devotion to ‘duty, honor and country.’ Far more than a tribute to Stewart, Smith has given us a window on what patriotism is all about. It is a timely chronicle.” St. Croix Review, October/Nov. 2006“…this is an important book that should be on the reading list of all officers, senior non-commissioned officers, and cadets or midshipmen in all of the armed services.”
Cincinnati Post, May 29, 2006“The reader looking for stories about Jimmy Stewart's remarkable movie career will not find them here. Likewise, the reader looking for some salacious expose of Mr. Stewart's private life will search for it in vain in Mr. Smith's book. What you will find is a first-rate and first-hand account of a chapter in Jimmy Stewart's life about which little has been written. This was a Jimmy Stewart very few people knew, and yet it was a time that, by his own admission, had more impact on his life than any other.” Evergreen Quarterly, April 2006 “…an engrossing tribute that is as well-written as it is well-deserved.”
Military Trader, August 2006 “Starr Smith has written a colorful and detailed account of Jimmy Stewart’s air force service that illuminates a sometimes overlooked facet of one of America’s most beloved actors.” Cybermodeler Online, July 2006“Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot is a well-written book that will provide a unique look into some operation history and the characteristics of a quiet man that is an icon of a true American hero. This title is highly recommended!”
Roger A. Freeman
. . (This book) is an excellent biography of a distinguished airman and fine human being. . . . not a Hollywood star in uniform but a dedicated officer whose primary interest was the campaign of the Eighth Air Force. It is the work of a very accomplished writer. . . (one) who really knows his craft. When you turn the last page, you cannot but have a clear understanding of Jimmy Stewart’s character.
air power historian and author, The Mighty Eighth
Kelly Stewart Harcourt
My father would feel honored by this book.
daughter of Jimmy Stewart
Jimmy Doolittle
We would have made Jimmy a group commander if the war had lasted another month.
General, World War II commander of the Eighth Air Force in England
Wayne Flynt
Jimmy Stewart was that rare public man who performed his duty without calling attention to himself. . . . Stewart has found his biographer in Starr Smith, a man who knew Stewart, who knew the World War II Army Air Corps, and who surely knows how to write.
Professor of History, Auburn University
Michael E. Ryan
This is a very well-researched and written book. Starr Smith has filled it with personal anecdotes about a World War II hero. It fills a place in history about no mere actor, but a courageous and selfless man.
Retired General and former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force