Homer Hickam served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, where he won the Army Commendation and Bronze Star medals. In addition to a best-selling author, Hickam has been a coal miner, scuba instructor, and NASA engineer. His second book, Rocket Boys: A Memoir, was translated into eight languages, was a National Book Critics Circle-nominee as Best Biography of 1998, and was the basis for the critically-acclaimed film October Sky. He is also the author of the novel Back to the Moon, the memoirs The Coalwood Way and Sky of Stone, and the inspirational We Are Not Afraid: Strength and Courage from the Town That Inspired the #1 Bestseller and Award-Winning Movie October Sky, as well as a fictional WWII series and two series of Young Adult books. Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator (William Morrow) is his funny, sweet, and sometimes tragic tale of a young couple and a special alligator on a crazy 1,000-mile adventure.
