Reaching for the Sky
A Life Lived at Altitude — The Memoir of Thomas Sawyer Storey
By Thomas Sawyer Storey
The story of a man who took to the skies, literally and metaphorically, and spent decades observing the world from above.
Some books do not ask to be read. They insist on being felt. Changing Eyes is one of them. What follows is our editorial feature on the memoir and the author behind it, published as part of our ongoing commitment to highlight the books we believe deserve a wider readership.
Reaching for the Sky
Reaching for the Sky is a powerful and inspiring memoir that chronicles the life and career of Thomas Sawyer Storey, from a childhood shaped by World War II influences, to his adventurous years in the United States Navy, to a remarkable career in broadcasting.
Through vivid storytelling, the author shares first hand experiences of serving aboard aircraft carriers during the Vietnam era, navigating dangerous flight deck operations, and witnessing history unfold. The journey continues into civilian life, where persistence, timing, and resilience led him into the competitive world of Los Angeles radio and television.
The book contains over one hundred and fifty color photographs, including images of his grandfather, Vietnam, surfing in Hawaii, commercial diving, acting, and most importantly, photographs from the cockpit of his aircraft over breaking news stories.
Hollywood, farms, and the call to service
Storey's origins in Hollywood were anything but ordinary. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley when it was mostly farmland, including the property once owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of Tarzan. When that farm was sold and subdivided for housing, it became the city of Tarzana.
At seventeen he joined the United States Navy, served as a survival swim instructor for Navy pilots in Hawaii, competed in the International Surfing Championship at Makaha, then served aboard the USS Hancock in the V 2 division catapults. He experienced two deployments to Yankee Station in Vietnam and survived a Category 5 super typhoon at sea.
A career in the clouds
After the Navy, Storey attended the Don Martin School of Radio and Television Arts and Sciences in Hollywood and began a thirty five year career as an airborne news and traffic reporter across KFWB News 980, K Earth 101, Arrow 93 FM where he was known as Major Tom, KLSX, KMPC, and others.
From his aircraft he watched Los Angeles grow, change, and sometimes crumble. He covered the Northridge earthquake of 1994 from the cockpit, reporting on collapsed freeways and burning buildings in the early morning hours. He covered the great Malibu fire of 1993, brush fires that threatened thousands of homes, and wild police pursuits across the freeways below.
"The cockpit became his office. The sky became his workspace."
A legacy for generations
Storey's grandfather, Thomas Sawyer Storey Sr., was a film director and cameraman who worked alongside icons such as Rudolph Valentino and Lon Chaney Jr. He witnessed the shift from silent films to the Talkies of the 1930s. Yet he never wrote his memoirs. His inner life, his struggles, and his triumphs vanished with him.
That silence became the profound motivation for Storey to put pen to paper. Unlike his grandfather, he decided to leave something more enduring, a written record of his life, his thoughts, and his values, so that his family and future generations would not have to guess at the man behind the credits.
The memoir is organized around what Storey calls the sliding doors of life, the moments when opportunity knocks and courage decides whether to step through. It is a lens that turns his biography into something more useful than reminiscence.
The visual dimension of the book is remarkable in its own right. Over one hundred and fifty color photographs, including aerial images taken from the cockpit during breaking news events, make Reaching for the Sky as much a visual archive of Southern California as it is a personal memoir.
Reaching for the Sky sits at the intersection of personal memoir and cultural history. Storey's aerial vantage on decades of Los Angeles life makes his story a document of the city as well as the man.
We are drawn to memoirs that understand their responsibility to future generations. This is one of them.
Reaching for the Sky is a memoir that soars. Storey has done what his grandfather could not, leaving a written record of his life, his thoughts, and his values for the generations who will come after him.
- Why it deserves attention
- It offers a first hand view of Vietnam era naval aviation and thirty five years of Los Angeles broadcasting from a vantage point almost nobody else in America can claim.
- Who will enjoy it
- Readers of aviation and military memoir, students of Southern California history, and anyone who loves stories of courage, opportunity, and legacy.
- Themes explored
- Legacy, family memory, service, resilience, the sliding doors of opportunity, and the moral weight of leaving a record for those who come after us.
- What makes it stand out
- The photographs. Over one hundred and fifty color images, including aerial shots taken during earthquakes, wildfires, and police pursuits.
- Why it matters
- Because the histories that are not written down disappear, and Storey has taken deliberate care that his will not.
- •Readers of aviation and military memoir
- •Fans of Los Angeles history, broadcasting, and mid century Americana
- •Grandparents thinking about the legacy they want to leave in writing
- •Anyone drawn to stories of courage, timing, and the sliding doors of opportunity
Reaching for the Sky is more than a memoir. It is a monument to a life well lived and an inspiration to future generations.
It is a book we are proud to feature in the pages of GrowthSpark Editorial.
This editorial feature was independently researched, written, and published by the GrowthSpark Editorial Team as part of our commitment to highlighting books and authors whose work contributes meaningfully to today's literary landscape.