Gillespie, Ric 1947- (Richard E. Gillespie)

PERSONAL:

Born 1947; married Pat Thrasher.

ADDRESSES:

Office—TIGHAR, 2812 Fawkes Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

CAREER:

Writer, aircraft accident investigator, former pilot. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) founder and executive director, 1985—.

WRITINGS:

Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance, Naval Institute Press (Annapolis, MD), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Flight accident investigator Ric Gillespie has investigated the disappearance of the pioneering pilot Amelia Earhart for several decades. In 1984 Gillespie founded the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), through which he has mounted numerous expeditions to try to find the remains of Earhart. In his 2006 title, Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance, Gillespie offers a historical account of the events directly following the aviator's disappearance, as well as a survey of the continuing attempts over the years to locate her remains. An accompanying CD-ROM also supplies numerous primary documents. Writing in the Library Journal, John Carver Edwards praised the "mind-bogglingly detailed perspective" Gillespie provides of the sixteen-day search effort mounted after radio contact was lost with Earhart. Edwards further termed Finding Amelia "soundly researched." A contributor to Reference & Research Book News noted that Gillespie "allows readers to work through the data and come up with their own conclusions."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, September 15, 2006, John Carver Edwards, review of Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance, p. 72.

Reference & Research Book News, November 1, 2006, review of Finding Amelia.

ONLINE

News Journal (Wilmington, DE) Online,http://www.delawareonline.com/ (April 1, 2007), Robin Brown, "Del. Man's Passion Driving New Earhart Search."

Philadelphia Inquirer Online,http://www.philly.com/ (April 1, 2007), Richard Pyle, "New, Tantalizing Earhart Clues."

TIGHAR Earhart Project Web site,http://www.tighar.org/ (May 7, 2007), "TIGHAR Executive Director and Expedition Leader, Ric Gillespie."