Black Sheep buff

Mike Sciacca

Huntington Beach resident Bob Reed began a journey 14 years ago that

led him to the unexpected.

Although it was a search to find elusive Black Sheep Squadron pilot

Chris Magee, that journey took on a personal nature for Reed, whose

subsequent meeting with a man he called a warrior, intellectual, poet,

outlaw and 20th century Ulysses, led to a deep friendship and the birth

of the book “Lost Black Sheep: The Search for WWII Ace Chris Magee.”

The work chronicles the life of Magee, who died in 1995 at the age of

78 from cardiac arrest during lengthy colon cancer surgery. It is divided

into two parts, the first detailing the enigmatic Magee and his exploits

as a Black Sheep that led to nine enemy kills and the awarding of the

Navy Cross, the naval services’ third-highest award and could be awarded

for both combat heroism and for other distinguished service. The book’s

second part follows Magee’s postwar life from mercenary to black

marketeer, to armed bank robber and prison inmate.

“I would describe my book as a true-life story that is part biography,

part memoir, part mystery and part family saga -- in other words, like

its protagonist, not easily categorized,” Reed said. “I have received

letters and e-mails from readers of all ages and both sexes telling me

how much they were moved by the story.”

Saturday night at 8 p.m. on the History Channel, Reed, who served in

the Navy as a journalist from 1967 to 1971, will discuss and lend his

critique on the showing of “The Flying Misfits,” the original two-hour

pilot film for the “Baa Baa Black Sheep” television series, which starred

Robert Conrad.

Along with Bruce Gamble, author of “Black Sheep One,” a biography of

Maj. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, Reed was invited to the History Channel’s

New York studios to discuss on air whether “The Flying Misfits” was

history or Hollywood.

“Neither Bruce nor I could find much in the film that bore any

resemblance to what the real Black Sheep experienced,” the 56-year-old

said.

Reed found the real story in Chris Magee. He said one thing that

kick-started him on the trail to the elusive Magee was Frank Walton’s

memoir, “Once They Were Eagles.”

“Chris Magee was anything but ordinary,” Reed explained. “He was a

20th century Ulysses whose improbable odyssey in many ways paralleled

that of the legendary Greek hero. He seldom talked about the past,

however, and I didn’t really decide to write the book until after his

death.”

It was through conversations with Magee’s lifelong friend and fellow

adventurer, Ed Smart, that Reed was motivated to tell Magee’s story, he

said. He finished his first draft in about a year, but continued to add

and delete material during the three years it took to find a publisher

for his 246-page book.

Reed first met Magee in August 1988. Frequent phone conversations and

subsequent meetings took place over the years, including Black Sheep

reunions of 1990 and 1993.

Through their conversations and personal discoveries, Reed and Magee

grew to be the best of friends. Reed called him “the older brother I

never had.”

“We had many similarities,” he said. “Each of us was the eldest child

in our family, was a journalism major in college [and] had a tremendous

curiosity about many subjects,” he said.

Magee’s life story was the first work Reed has had published. He also

has penned a screenplay, a teleplay and a TV pilot, and co-wrote another

screenplay. None, however, have sold.

A former advertising copywriter, however, Reed’s work has appeared in

everything from educational reading materials to community newspapers. He

is working on the several possible projects, including a book with Ed

Smart. The 83-year-old Smart, whom Reed called “very eccentric,” has a

wealth of stories and photos from his many adventures with longtime

friend, the late actor John Wayne.

Ror now, Reed will have his time on the History Channel and also at a

special Memorial Day weekend program at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

There, he will be part of a presentation honoring the the famous Black

Sheep Squadron of World War II.

“I look forward to renewing many treasured friendships there,” he

said.

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at (714)

965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.