A Sonnet by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. “High Flight” was not John Gillespie Magee Jr’s only literary achievement. He wrote more than a dozen poems in his brief life, but he was most proud of his sonnet, “Brave New World,” which won the Rugby Poetry Prize in 1939. Chapter Eight of my novel A Day […]
Category: John Gillespie Magee Jr. Author of “High Flight”

World War II pilot John Gillespie Magee Jr. is a historical figure underlying a major character in A Day in Eternity. He was made famous by his sonnet, titled “High Flight,” about the mystical experiences many pilots have while flying. Now he is being commemorated by a nine-foot bronze statue, memorial park, and visitor’s center […]

A Day in Eternity by Kathryn Gabriel Loving was recently named by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group as one of the best indie books of 2017. Loving’s novel is a finalist of the Inspirational Fiction category in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA), the world’s largest non-profit book awards program for independent […]

“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth … put out my hand and touched the face of God.” These lines from John Gillespie Magee’s 1941 poem, “High Flight,” have inspired generations of aviators. Written from the perspective of an aircraft at 30,000 feet, we can understand the spiritual intent. At a deeper level, […]

John Gillespie Magee, Jr., the WWII poet and fighterpilot who wrote “High Flight,” the anthem of aviators for seventy-five years, left the world with an even greater legacy—more than a hundred letters detailing the angst of a teenager in a war-torn world. Sprinkled throughout the letters are his sentiments for a young lady named Elinor […]