Wisconsin Book Festival – Liam Callanan discusses Stone Age Astronaut: The Astonishing Adventures of America’s Forgotten Flier

The Wisconsin Book Festival welcomes author Liam Callanan, discussing his new biography of aviation pioneer Lester Maitland

In conversation with Jeff Oloizia

In Stone Age Astronaut, Liam Callanan uncovers the astonishing life of Lester Maitland, the Milwaukee-born aviator who, in 1927, became the first person to fly to Hawaii, earning national acclaim on par with Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic triumph. But while Lindbergh’s legacy grew, Maitland’s all but vanished.

With sparkling prose and a storyteller’s instinct for detail, Callanan resurrects a man whose life intersected with major events, eras, and personalities, but who has inexplicably slipped through the cracks of American memory. A gripping portrait of ambition, innovation, fame, failure, and reinvention – and the enduring human urge to fly – Stone Age Astronaut ensures that Lester Maitland’s extraordinary story will no longer be forgotten.

Liam Callanan is the author of four novels and a collection of stories. He’s won the Edna Ferber Prize, his writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more, and he has recorded numerous essays for public radio. He has taught at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Liam lives in Milwaukee, five blocks from where Lester Maitland grew up.

Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival.