Homer Hadley Hickam, Jr. was born on the 19th February 1943, in Coalwood, West Virginia USA, and is a Vietnam veteran and an author, who is probably best recognized for his autobiographical book entitled “Rocket Boys: A Memoir” (1998), which became a New York Times best-seller, and the basis for the film called “October Sky” (1999). He is also known for being a former NASA engineer.
So, have you ever wondered how rich Homer Hickam is, as of early 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that the total size of Homer’s net worth is over $1 million, accumulated through his successful career as the author of a number book titles. Another source has come from his career as a former NASA engineer.
Homer Hickam Net Worth $1 Million
Homer Hickam spent his childhood with his older brother in his hometown by his mother, Elsie Gardener Hickam, and father, Homer Hickam, Sr. He attended Big Creek High School, from which he matriculated in 1960, and where he started to build rockets with a group of friends – they called themselves “The Big Creek Missile Agency” (BCMA). Their designs of rockets earned them a gold and silver medal at the 1960 National Science Fair. Afterwards, he enrolled at Virginia Tech, graduating with a BS degree in Industrial Engineering in 1964, during which Homer designer a cannon named “The Skipper”, which soon became an icon of the college.
Right after college, during the Vietnam War Homer joined the US Army, where he was a First Lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry Division in Vietnam during 1967 to 1968, and being decorated with the Army Commendation and Bronze Star Medals, and after six years was discharged in 1971 with the rank of Captain. However, he subsequently served as an engineer from 1971 to 1978 in the US Army Aviation and Missile Command, then in 1978 he was hired by the 7th Army Training Command in Germany. In 1981, Homer returned to the US, where he immediately began working as an aerospace engineer at Marshall Space Flight Center for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). His NASA career was very successful, aS he worked as an astronauts’ trainer, for various Space Shuttle and Spacelab missions, such as the Hubble Space Telescope deployment mission and the Solar Max repair mission, etc. Upon his so-called retirement in 1998, he started work as the Payload Training Manager for the International Space Station Program. All of these added a considerable amount to his net worth.
Speaking about Homer’s writing career, it started in 1969 after the Vietnam War, when he began writing articles about scuba diving, battles against the U-boats during the war, etc. His first book “Torpedo Junction” was published in 1989 by the Naval Institute Press, and his second book came out in 1998, entitled “Rocket Boys: A Memoir”, which marked his career as an author by becoming a best-seller, being nominated for Best Biography of 1998 by the National Book Critics Circle. Its success saw it become in the following year the basis for Universal Studios’ film “October Sky”, which increased his net worth by a large margin. During the same year, Homer wrote his first novel, about space and called “Back To The Moon”.
Homer also became known for his “Josh Thurlow” book series, which consisted of “The Keeper’s Son (2003), “The Ambassador’s Son” (2005), and “The Far Reaches” (2007). His other popular project was the “Helium-3” series, which is represented by the Young Adult Science Fiction thriller trilogy – “Crater”, “Crescent”, and “The Lunar Rescue Company”, all of which extended a lot his net worth.
Regarding his personal life, Homer Hickam has been married to Linda Terry Hickam since 1998; the couple divide their time between residences in Alabama and the Virgin Islands.
