Higher Than Eagles

Sometimes tragic, always exuberant, this family saga revolving around hang gliding is movingly recounted in alternating sections by sorely tried but indomitable mother Maralys ( Manbirds ) and son Chris, now an orthopedic surgeon, one of the family's two hang gliding champions. The authors focus on the oldest son, daredevil and problem child Bobby, and his passion for inventing, building and flying gliders. He won the American, Canadian and British championships--flights thrillingly and poetically described here--and in the process infected the entire turbulent, sports-mad California family of eight with his obsession. Even the fatal gliding accident of the youngest boy, Eric, at 20 and Bobby's own death in a glider a few years later--we're not told the dates of either death--failed to put an end to what had become the thriving Wills Wings family business--now operating as a memorial to its young victims. (Apr.)