Robert Jerome Serling (born Jerome Robert Serling; March 28, 1918 – May 6, 2010) was an American novelist and aviation writer.
Biography Born in Cortland, New York and raised in Binghamton, Serling graduated from Antioch College in 1942. He "deplored the name Jerome" and swapped his first and middle names as a young man. He was the older brother of screenwriter and The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling.
Serling became full-time aviation editor for United Press International in 1960. He wrote at least eight novels and sixteen books of nonfiction. His novel The President's Plane Is Missing was made into a 1973 made-for-TV film starring Buddy Ebsen. He received the 1988 Lauren D. Lyman Award "for distinguished achievement in the field of aviation and aerospace journalism."
He had two children with his second wife, Priscilla Arone, a former Western Airlines stewardess. His daughter Jennifer is a veterinary technician.
Serling died of pancreatic cancer on May 6, 2010, at age 92 in Tucson, Arizona.
Career
He was a United Press International, Washington, DC, reporter and manager of Radio News Division, 1945–60, aviation editor, 1960–66; air safety lecturer and consultant, beginning 1966. His brother Rod Serling hired him as a technical consultant (for which he received on-screen credit) for the airplane sequences in the episode "The Odyssey of Flight 33" of his hit TV-show The Twilight Zone. Robert Serling also received advisor or researcher credits on two other Rod Serling scripts: one each for scripts penned for Studio One and Playhouse 90. He was a reporter for the Washington Redskins and travelled with the team and roomed with quarterback Eddie LeBaron. He was a very devout conservative Republican, in contrast to his brother’s liberal Democratic stance.
He was a member of the Society of Air Safety Investigators and the Aviation/Space Writers Association
He collected commercial airline models (more than four hundred during his life) and material on aviation research. In 2008, was featured speaker at the 32nd annual Airliners International collectibles show and convention in Dallas, Texas.
He authored the short story "Ghost Writer" published in Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary. His Something's Alive on the Titanic and The President's Plane Is Missing and ‘’Air Force One is Haunted’’ are fantasy novels set in real life high-profile backdrops.
Awards He received numerous honors of his work throughout his career: Trans-World Airlines, seven awards, 1958–65, for aviation news reporting Strebig-Dobben Memorial Award, 1960 special citations from Sherman Fairchild Foundation, 1963 Flight Safety Foundation, 1970 Airline Pilots Association, 1970 Aviation/Space Writers Association James Trebig Memorial Award, 1964 special citation, 1967 award in fiction, 1966, for The Left Seat award in non-fiction, 1969, for Loud and Clear
Fiction TitlePublishedISBNs NotesThe Left SeatDoubleday, 1966Paperback: Popular Library, 1966The President's Plane Is MissingDoubleday, 1967 Paperback: Dell, 1968She'll Never Get off the GroundDoubleday, 1971Paperback: Dell, 1972McDermott's SkyLaurel Group, 19770930392000, 9780930392000Paperback: Pocket Books, 1980WingsDial Press, 19780803795920, 9780803795921Paperback: New American Library, 1979StewardessSt. Martin's, 19820312761937, 9780312761936Paperback: New American Library, 1984Air Force One Is HauntedSt. Martin's, 19850312015348, 9780312015343Sequel to The President's Plane Is Missing, again featuring President HainesSomething's Alive on the TitanicSt. Martin's, 1990031205159X, 9780312051594Paperback: St. Martin's, 1993
Non-fiction TitlePublishedISBN NotesThe Probable Cause: The Truth About Air Travel TodayDoubleday & Co., 1960Library of Congress 60–15194 Paperback: Ballantine Books, 1964The Electra StoryDoubleday & Co., 1963Library of Congress 63–7715 Paperback: Bantam Books, 1991Loud and Clear: The Full Answer to Aviation's Vital Question – Are the Jets Really Safe?Doubleday & Co., 1969Paperback: Dell, 1970Birth of an Industry: A Nostalgic Collection of Airline Schedules for the Years 1929 to 1939 (in facsimile)R. H. Donnelly, 1969Ceiling Unlimited: The Story of North Central AirlinesWalsworth Publishing, 1973LCCN 73090730Little Giant: The Story of Gates LearJetSerling, 1974Maverick: The Story of Robert Six and Continental AirlinesDoubleday & Co., 19740385040571, 9780385040570The Only Way to Fly: The Story of Western Airlines, America's Senior Air CarrierDoubleday & Co., 19760385013426, 9780385013420The Jet AgeTime-Life Books, 19789780809433636, 9780809433629 Series: "The Epic of Flight"From the Captain to the Colonel: An Informal History of Eastern AirlinesDial Press, 19800803746105, 9780803746107 Howard Hughes' Airline: An Informal History of TWASt. Martin's Press, 19830312396317, 9780312396312Eagle: The Story of American AirlinesSt. Martin's Press, 19850312224532, 9780312224530 Countdown: An AutobiographySilver Arrow, 19880-688-07929-6, 9780688079291co-authored with Frank BormanLegend and Legacy: The Story of Boeing and Its PeopleSt. Martin's Press, 1992031205890X 9780312058906 When the Airlines Went to WarKensington Books, 19971575662469, 9781575662466Steel Rails and Silver Wings: The Lindbergh Line to the Birth of TWAWeekend Chief Pub., 20060961281499, 9780961281496 co-authored with George H. FosterCharacter and Characters: The Spirit of Alaska AirlinesDocumentary Media, 20089781933245119
References
External links