On May 30th, 1912, Wilbur Wright died peacefully in his own bed in the family home in Dayton, Ohio. He was 45 years old. The cause of death was typhoid, which he may have contracted from eating tainted clam broth in a Boston restaurant. But Orville Wright and members of the Wright family believed Wilbur’s death was attributable to the stress he experienced fighting their archenemy and main competitor, Glenn Curtiss. In Orville Wright’s mind, Curtiss had killed his older brother.
“Birdmen” by Lawrence Goldstone, tells the story of the Wright Brothers’ battle with Curtiss in the early years of manned flight. “Birdmen” also is about the birth of modern aviation, and the intrepid inventors and aviators who dedicated – and sometimes risked – their lives to solve what was called “the flying problem.”
Lawrence Goldstone is the author or co-author of 14 books of fiction and nonfiction, including Lefty: An America Odyssey.
