Martin Caidin

Martin Caidin
Born	(1927-09-14)September 14, 1927 New York City, U.S.
Died	March 24, 1997(1997-03-24)(aged 69) Tallahassee,Florida,U.S.
Occupation	Author, screenwriter
Genre	Military history,science fiction
Spouse	Dee Dee Caidin

Martin Caidin(September 14, 1927 – March 24, 1997) was an American author, screenwriter, and an authority onaeronauticsand aviation.

Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction booksas well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel isCyborg,which was the basis forThe Six Million Dollar Manfranchise. He also wrote numerous works ofmilitary history,especially concerning aviation.

Caidin was also an airplane pilot. He bought and restored a 1936Junkers Ju 52airplane.

Fiction

Caidin's fiction incorporated future technological advances that were projected to occur, and examined the political and social repercussions of these innovations. In this respect, his work is similar to that ofMichael Crichton.One recurring theme is that ofcyborgs,meldings of man and machine, using replacement body parts known asbionics.Caidin references bionics in his novelThe God Machine(1968) and in his most famous novel,Cyborg(1972).Cyborgwas adapted somewhat vaguely as the 1973 television movieThe Six Million Dollar Man,the precursor of a television series of the same name.Caidin wrote three sequels toCyborg:Operation Nuke,High Crystal,andCyborg IV.These novels constitute a differentcontinuityfrom that ofThe Six Million Dollar Man.(Novelizations of severalof the television episodes were written by other authors; these tend to imitate more closely Caidin's original version of the Steve Austin character than the less violent television series does.)

Caidin was credited in episodes of the originalBionic Womanseries, aSix Million Dollar Manspinoff, but not inthe 2007 remakeofThe Bionic Woman.

Years later, Caidin would reference bionics in a satirical manner in his novelBuck Rogers: A Life in the Future,an adaptation of the pulp fiction and comic strip characterBuck Rogersin which Rogers is given bionic parts after being revived from his centuries-long coma.

Caidin's 1964 novelMarooned,about American astronauts who become stranded in space and NASA's subsequent attempt to rescue them, is based onProject Mercury.The book was adapted into a 1969movie of the same namestarringGregory Peck,Richard Crenna,David Janssen,James FranciscusandGene Hackman,with Caidin making a brief appearance as a reporter describing the arrival of the rescue vehicle at Cape Canaveral. The movie was based onProject Apolloand Caidin revised his novel in 1969, as a movie novelization, to reflect the change.

World War Twobooks written by Caidin includeSamurai!;Black Thursday;Thunderbolt!;Fork-Tailed Devil: The P-38;Flying Forts;Zero!;The Ragged, Rugged Warriors;A Torch to the Enemy;andThe Last Dogfight.Caidin's books about space travel includeNo Man's World,in which the Soviets beat the Americans to the moon, andFour Came Back,about an ill-fated space station for eight crew members. Caidin's other books with movie tie-ins includeThe Final Countdownand novels featuring adventurer-archaeologistIndiana Jones.He also wrote the bookExit Earth,which was a Noah's Ark in space story; he said it was one of his favorite books and he always felt it would be an amazing motion picture.

Aeronautics

Caidin bought and restored to full airworthiness the oldest survivingJunkers Ju 52aircraft, a Ju 52/3m, Serial № 5489, which he namedIron Annie.Caidin was pilot-in-command ofIron Annieon November 14, 1981, when 19 peoplewalked on one of its wings,a world record.He was one of a small number of pilots to have successfully taken off a Junkers Ju 52 in less than 400 feet (120 meters). After touring extensively among shows of vintage military aircraft, orwarbirds,Iron Anniewas sold toLufthansaduring 1984. The airline renamed itTempelhof,and continues to use it today, for charter and VIP flights. Caidin chronicled the warbird restoration movement generally inRagwings and Heavy Iron,and the restoration and further adventures ofIron Anniespecifically inThe Saga of Iron Annie.His novelJericho 52also incorporates many of his experiences withIron Annie.

During 1961, Caidin was one of the pilots of a formation flight ofB-17sacross the Atlantic Ocean, likely the last such flight, from the United States to England via Canada, the Azores, and Portugal. During the voyage, the pilots had a near-miss with a submarine. Caidin recounted this journey in his bookEverything But The Flak.

Caidin also worked as a pilot for the movieThe War Lover,flew with theU.S. Air Force Thunderbirdsdemonstration squadron for several months, and was made an honorary member of theU.S. Army's Golden Knights parachute demonstration team.

Additionally, Caidin wrote an aircraft manual for theMesserschmitt Bf 108,which has been approved by theFederal Aviation Administrationas the standard manual for the plane, and twice won the Aviation/Space Writers Association award for the outstanding author on aviation.

Caidin also established a company with the purpose of promoting aeronautics to young people.

Talk show host

During the mid-1980s, Caidin hostedFace to Face,a confrontational television talk show in which he challenged representatives of many prominent American far-right organizations and hate groups. The one-hour broadcasts were co-written and produced by Bob Judson, and taped at the Nautilus Television Studios outside of Orlando, Florida. Among those whom Caidin confronted onFace to Facewere RabbiMeir Kahane,head of theJewish Defense League(who would be assassinated a year later in a New York hotel lobby),Matt Koehl,successor toGeorge Lincoln Rockwellas head of theAmerican Nazi Party,Dick Butler ofAryan Nations,journalist Charlie Reese, and John McMann of theJohn Birch Society.Caidin was a friend of 1960s talk show hostJoe Pyne,and used the same confrontational interview style, combined with research.

Caidin also taught a progressive journalism course at theUniversity of Floridain Gainesville, titled Caidin's Law.

Claims of psychic ability

Caidin, known as a stickler for technical detail, incorporated supernatural elements in his Bermuda Triangle novelThree Corners To Nowhere(1975). During the mid-1980s, Caidin began claiming to have the power oftelekinesis,specifically, to be able to move one or more small devices calledenergy wheelsorpsi wheels. ParapsychologistLoyd Auerbach,a friend of Caidin's who sometimes appeared with him in demonstrations and workshops, reiterated a strong endorsement of him in his June 2004Fatemagazine column.

The magicianJames Randioffered to test Caidin's claimed abilities during 1994. During September 2004, Randi wrote: "He frantically avoided accepting my challenge by refusing even the simplest of proposed control protocols, but he never tired of running on about how I would not test him."

Personal life

Caidin died ofthyroid canceron March 25, 1997 at the age of 69.

External links

• Martin CaidinatLibrary of Congress,with 115 library catalog records
• Martin Caidinat theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• Martin CaidinatIMDb
• Martin Caiden papersare archived at theAmerican Heritage Center,University of Wyoming.