Thompson, Neal 1965-

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Thompson, Neal 1965-

PERSONAL: Born 1965, in NJ; married, 1994; wife’s name Mary; children: Sean, Leo. Education: University of Scranton, B.A., 1987.

ADDRESSES: Home— Ashville, NC. E-mail— neal @ nealthompson.com.

CAREER: Journalist. Worked for newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Roanoke Times & World-News, St. Petersburg Times, and the Bergen Record; Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD, reporter for five years; University of North Carolina-Ashville, Great Smokies Writing Program, teacher; freelance journalist.

WRITINGS

Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard, America’s First Spaceman, Crown Publishers (New York, NY), 2004.

Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR, Crown Publishers (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals including the Outside, Esquire, Men’s Health, Backpacker, and the Washington Post magazine.

SIDELIGHTS: Journalist Neal Thompson wrote for a number of newspapers over a fifteen year period, focusing on investigative reporting and profiles, before settling at the Baltimore Sun for five years, covering the military. It was during this time that he began research on the book that would become Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard, America’s First Spaceman. In the book, Thompson delves into the life of the man who was the first American in space, looking not just at his career and marriage, but at his penchant for pretty girls and his erratic temper. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly dubbed the book “a snappily written, factual counterbalance to Tom Wolfe’s [The Right Stuff] sometimes poetic renderings of the heroes of the early space program.” Sam Jack, in a review on his Blog, Lowether, noted: “Thompson does not lack for information or interesting events. Shepard was a trouble-maker for most of his life, and the book is peppered with accounts of his exploits.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews wrote of Thompson’s effort: “Just what a biography should be: sharp, evocative, and brisk.” In a review for the Library Journal, contributor Nancy R. Curtis noted that Thompson’s book “does much to illuminate the life and personality of perhaps the most private, mad, complex member of the Mercury Seven.”

In Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR, Thompson looks at an entirely different type of adventurer, delving into the roots of stock-car racing, which go back to the days of Prohibition. Although NASCAR has developed into a family-style form of entertainment, with clean cut drivers and sponsors such as Tide, Nextel, and the U.S. Army, it used to have a far more seedy reputation. Thompson tracks the sport’s progress while including entertaining stories from the its origins. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews said of the book: “It’s a provocative premise.” He went on to praise Thompson’s pacing and storytelling skills, but remarked that “his awestruck worship of his subjects, voiced in purplish prose, betrays a ‘homer’ mindset.” A reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote that “the enthusiasm of this breathless, nostalgic account will be contagious to Southern history buffs and historically minded NASCAR fans.” Gilbert Taylor, in a review for Booklist, called Thompson’s effort “a colorful, multifaceted history of the hell-raising origins of stock-car racing.” Writing for the Library Journal, Eric C. Shoaf noted that Thompson succeeded in “capturing not only the regional appeal of the sport, but also the tenor of the times.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2004, Roland Green, review of Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard, America’s First Spaceman, p. 800; September 1, 2006, Gilbert Taylor, review of Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR, p. 49.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2004, review of Light This Candle, p. 30; August 1, 2006, review of Driving with the Devil, p. 775.

Library Journal, February 15, 2004, Nancy R. Curtis, review of Light This Candle, p. 158; August 1, 2006, Eric C. Shoaf, review of Driving with the Devil, p. 97.

Publishers Weekly, January 12, 2004, review of Light This Candle, p. 44; July 24, 2006, review of Driving with the Devil, p. 45.

Time, November 20, 2006, Sean Gregory, “5 Sports Books That Deserve Big Cheers,” review of Driving with the Devil, p. 76.