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.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.