The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk 254: Robert Kurson - How To Be A Master Storyteller: Rocket Men, The Most Daring Mission In NASA History
Apr 22, 2018
Robert Kurson, bestselling author of Shadow Divers and Rocket Men, turned from Harvard Law to tell true adventure stories. He discusses choosing Apollo 8, NASA’s rushed four-month plan, the astronauts’ fearless mindset, and how tight deadlines fueled extraordinary achievement. He also shares his disciplined writing routine and why storytelling matters to connect people.
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From Harvard Law To Typing Football Scores
- Kurson left a high‑paying corporate law job after finding the work punished creativity and made him miserable.
- He begged the Chicago Sun‑Times sports editor for weekend menial work, answered phones, entered high school football scores, and never left until he became a writer.
Persist Politely Until You Get In
- Never give up on creating an exit path: work nights, weekends, write letters, call people, and persist politely until someone says yes.
- Kurson credits relentless polite persistence for landing his first newspaper opportunity.
Story Is The Human Operating System
- Story is wired into human cognition and works across formats from biblical tales to 30-second ads.
- Robert Kurson learned structure intuitively from his salesman father and uses beginnings, inciting incidents, battles, and change to shape nonfiction books.
