Adventures of a Writing Fool by Dwight Jon Zimmerman

From Substack:”Between the Lines” by Dwight Jon Zimmerman

In 2018 I had finished the manuscript for “The Life McQueen,” a biography of the “King of Cool” Steve McQueen, for Motorbooks. It was my second biography of the late Hollywood icon for the company, the first being the graphic biography “Full-Throttle Cool.” Because it was the debut title for a projected line of lifestyle books (as I discovered, McQueen had a huge cultural and fashion impact), and I wanted to do more work for the company, I started trolling the internet for possible subjects to align with the series concept. The result was an attempt to exploit the marketing opportunity presented by what was sure to be a Hollywood blockbuster without having to obtain an expensive license. And . . . it revealed the perils of relying on Hollywood while also falling victim to force majure: “Top Gun: 50 Years of Naval Air Superiority.”

It started with my discovery of an announcement that Tom Cruise was going to return to star in the sequel to his 1986 blockbuster movie “Top Gun.” I forget if that initial announcement contained the eventual title “Top Gun: Maverick.” Regardless, I remember that the movie was hugely popular and proved a wildly successful recruiting tool for both Naval Aviation and the other military branches. The U.S. Navy even went so far as to set up recruiting kiosks in front of theaters showing the film in order to catch young men high in the throes of adrenalin after seeing the movie giving them siren promises of a possible career as a fighter pilot. No doubt those who signed paid no attention to that word “possible.” (My book does the breakdown. Let’s just say those who became fighter pilots were a tiny minority.)

My friend Craig L. Symonds was the head of the history department at the U.S. Naval Academy and a member of the Admissions Board at the time. He recalled that when the movie opened, ‘We read the essays of applicants who wrote about why they applied. By far the most common explanation was that they had been inspired by the movie ‘Top Gun’.” Recruiting for the Navy’s aviation program jumped 500 percent from the previous year.

I looked at the projected release date of the sequel, did some calculating, and saw that if approval could happen quickly, we’d be able to get my project out in time for the movie’s release.

Familiar with Hollywood financials thanks to my work at Marvel’s Domestic Licensing Department and later at Topps Comics, I knew that Quarto could not afford to pay the fee the studio would ask for an authorized adaptation of the sequel. But Topgun, the Navy’s famous nickname for what is now the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, is owned by the government, thus public domain. So the use of Top Gun/Topgun was okay. Now, with regards to “Topgun” or “Top Gun” properly the former is the U.S. Navy and the latter is the movie. But, my book title blurs the line. Talk to my publisher.

Moving right along . . . I put together a pitch that was a history of Naval Aviation, military aviation, and its cultural impact, with an emphasis on Topgun itself. Since the “Top Gun” movie was a part of Topgun history, it would include chapters devoted to both the original and the sequel, all without having to pay for the (expensive) rights. Granted, with respect to the sequel, I’d be hostage to whatever tidbit teaser trailers and press releases were issued while I was writing well in advance of the movie release date, but I was banking on the idea that the studio would be anxious to build a groundswell of anticipation and would feed juicy stuff leading up to the release, which it did in time for me to put together an admittedly superficial (though fairly accurately as it turned out) chapter about it.

My editor liked the idea and agreed that to make it happen the company had to move quickly. A couple of weeks later he got back to me. At their regular editorial meeting it was decided that my pitch didn’t fall within the parameters of “The Life . . .” series guidelines. He needed me to rework the pitch so that it would be a stand-alone book. Needless to say that’s what I did. The revised pitch was approved and I was off!

The book leads with a chapter recapping the “Top Gun” movie’s plot and its cultural impact. The bulk of the book is devoted to the origins and development of the Navy’s Topgun program. But there are also chapters that deal with the growth, fascination, and development of military aviation. It’s hard to imagine now, but because the twentieth century saw the birth and growth of aviation in general the general public was head-over-heals over it (Charles Lindbergh, for instance, received the Medal of Honor for his 1927 solo nonstop transatlantic flight). And I wrote chapters about various aspects of that. A few anecdotes from the book:

Because of my comic book background, I couldn’t resist including this World War II anecdote. Reed Crandall was the artist for the “Blackhawk” comic book series about a squadron of international pilots in fighters battling the Luftwaffe. One day he got a knock on the door of his north shore Long Island home. When he opened it he discovered a pair of FBI agents at his doorstep. They were there to find out how in hell he was able to so accurately draw images of Grumman’s XF6F fighter (the “X” standing for experimental), Grumman having a plant nearby. As they were talking one of the prototype fighters flew past his studio window. The full account is told elsewhere on my site.

The book also includes the strict standards, both academically and physically, one needs to become a fighter pilot. Research included details about the “spin and puke” chair which I think is self-descriptive (and, amusing). It also includes a fascinating account of how an F-86 Sabre jet chief mechanic accidentally became a fighter pilot while doing a routine maintenance check. Again, I’ve included this elsewhere in my site.

As for the sequel movie reason that prompted the book itself, knowing that I’d get, at best, very little information about the movie, I decided this chapter would be the last one written. As I was writing, I was constantly checking for movie updates. And that’s when I had my Hollywood moment.

At one point, the studio announced that it was pushing the release date back a year. Oh, boy. I emailed my editor with the news, including the link. He said he’d get back to me. The next day I was told that since the book was not directly tied to the movie that the pub date would hold. Since it’s their money, so be it.

Then came the Act of God: COVID-19, which pushed the movie release date back further. But, by then it was a moot issue with respect to my book.

My book came out just before the pandemic hit, and around the time of the original release date of the sequel. I was in my local Barnes & Noble checking out the shelves to see my book. And what also do I see? “Top Gun: An American Story” by Dan Pedersen. Pedersen was the founder and first commander of the Topgun program. I smiled. Just like me, he got burned by the movie reschedule.

Now, one thing about publishing profusely illustrated coffee table books is that because there are so many visual moving parts, editorial continuity is critical. Unfortunately, with this project I wound up having three editors. And, yep, an error occurred.

In addition to the text, I provided almost all of the visuals for the book. But at one point the book’s designer decided to replace one of my WWI ace photos with a different one. I was never told, and this happened after I had received a galley for review. The disparity between my caption and the photograph was only caught when the French publisher of the book (there’s a chapter that highlights WWI French aces) sent a query noting it. I was informed. After some back and forth, I discovered what had happened. Was not happy, but nothing I could do. So, the French edition has the corrected caption I wrote. And, my French nieces love the book.