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BOTTLE TO THROTTLE
( THE DRINKING LIFE OF AN AIRLINE CAPTAIN )

by Captain Rob Grunke

372 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0607; ISBN 1-4120-0238-9; US$30.50, C$35.00, EUR25.00, £17.50

'Bottle to Throttle' - the "First of its kind sizzling and true account by a seasoned airline captain and also a seasoned drinker. Busted by the crew before his final flight - sinking to his lowest point - on the brink of suicide and ending up in rehab - thus beginning a new life. This book is presently under consideration as a screenplay.

This web site is dedicated to Maggie.

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpts or Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book ...PILOT BUSTED! Recent TV and Newspaper headlines have brought to the public's attention yet another issue affecting the safety of our Nation's Airline Industry...the latest growing issue since Terrorism...BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVELS OF PILOTS! BOTTLE TO THROTTLE is the "first of its kind" sizzling and true account by Captain Rob...a seasoned Commercial Airline Pilot...and also a seasoned Drinker...(his book is presently under consideration as a screenplay). "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking"..."It would be my last flight shamefully, from captain Rob to Captain Drunk." Minutes later he was blowing into a Breathalyzer...and also blowing twenty-six years of flying! Yesterday he had been on the brink. He takes you on an incredible journey to his past with the hope of sorting out how it had led to today's "LIVING NIGHTMARE"! Written with humor and compassion, covering sensitive issues of today that began long ago...his life begins as a kid growing up in the BRONX! The "seeds were sown" by an "Army of Drunks" on both sides of the family! Had his path to drinking begun at age seven with a sip of beer on Thanksgiving Day or perhaps with the "whiskey-dripping" cherries? Had his Catholic school nuns and priests given him and other kids good reason to drink? "It never dawned on me that this MAN OF GOD actually enjoyed beatings, especially at swimming practice...we in our skintight Speedos." Was he later charged as a pedophile? The Captain's life continues to lead you through numerous escapades of grade school beer, high school booze, more booze at college, the drinking man's Navy, Europe's bars, South American bars, the alcohol vending machines of Asia, plus more, more, more of everything in California...then later his drinking career comes to an abrupt halt in "SIN-CITY" Las Vegas, Nevada! The Author recently went through a rehabilitation program for his alcohol addiction and shares this positive turning point in his life with readers! He's the son of a New York City Fireman, a graduate of Fordham University, a former Naval Officer, and Senior Captain and Instructor. BOTTLE TO THROTTLE serves as a reminder to his fellow Pilots of their great responsibility regarding the lives entrusted to them. It is also about Alcohol and the question...when does it become a problem? ...Statistics prove that 99% of all American households have at least one TV and that the public's demand for media truth escalated during the Clinton years and rose even higher with the events of September 11, 2001. While Rob's book may be particularly newsworthy on several subjects, his audience is not limited. His unique style of writing plus one continuous adventure after another result in a book that readers will not want to put down...regardless of profession, age, or gender

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About the Author Rob is a graduate of Fordham Universtiy and the son of a New York City fireman. His experience includes that as an officer in the U.S. Navy and as a senior airline captain with a 26-year career worldwide...having advanced up the ranks from flight instructor, to flight engineer, to captain of seven different passenger aircraft. He resides in Jupiter Florida.

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Sample Excerpts or Table of Contents

12 PARTS

Part 1 The End

Part 2 Kid from the Bronx...King Arthur and I are Booze Buddies

a. Seeds of Drinking...being sown...by an "Army of Drunks
b. Catholic Grade School Days...beating and beers
c. Catholic High School Days...more beatings...more beer
d. College Days...jobs and blown jobs
e. Bartending and Lifeguarding...anything goes
f. Waiting for Uncle Sam...thrill of the $5.00 flight

Part 3 Drinking man's navy...Boot Camp...how I got the flying boot

a. Off Base as an Officer...and a "Gentleman"
b. New Orders...escaping Vietnam
c. Courting and Marital Bliss...anchors away
d. Liberty in Naples...flipping off the Russian Navy
e. San Juan...he looked pretty damn good in the dark
f. Crossing the Equator...under Lieutenant "Becker the Pecker"
g. The Galapagos Isle...lost in the jungle

Part 4 The Post Naval Drip...I'm beneath the snake

a. Stocking a Beer Truck is a Science
b. "Quickie" Mexican Divorce for Her
c. "Wildest and Wettest" Dreams Come True
d. Happy Hours and Singles bars...the bottom
e. Farming...with the New York Giants
f. Back to the Beach...more lifeguarding

Part 5 Bear Oak Enterprises...bears it all...in the Arizona Desert

a. Cannon Balls and Cactus Pricks
b. Getting Our Feet "Wet"...landing our first "fish"
c. Potts Bar Becomes "The Pitts" Bar
d. Sex, Alcohol, and the "River of Riches"
e. "I'm Still Dreaming of Flying"
f. Doctors Toast the Birth of a "Chip Off the Ol' Block"

Part 6 California...I'm flying "high" now...Booze and Weed

a. Hitchhiking...in the warm "California Sun"...
b. The Naked Psychedelic Truth
c. Summer Cleavage on Thursdays
d. "Grampa Abdul's" Wealthy Saudie Flight Boys
e. Flight Lesson Jitters Calmed with a Drink
f. I'm SOLO...over Santa Barbara

Part 7 I'm flying by car...back to New York...New York

ON THE MOVE...Manhattan...the Beach...NYC...SFO
a. Bartending to Flight Instructor
b. Car Troubles...again
c. Beer and Billy
d. JFK

Part 8 San Francisco's "Dog gone good," but Pakistan calls

a. Marital Bliss...I left my "Heart" in San Francisco
b. "Wild, Wild West" Meets the "Wild, Wild East"
c. Engines "Fired Up" on the "Death Machine"
d. Egypt...tipsy and robbed atop the pyramid
e. Lebanon and Faraway Places

Part 9 I'm back in the U.S. of A. For good...until JAPAN...

a. "Fryboy" Comes to Train
b. Tokyo...sake vending machines everywhere
c. 8 Weeks of Hotel Life...sake o kudasai
d. The Good Life...juu years of the GOOD life!
e. Yokohama Country Club
f. The Parties...then Sayonara

Part 10 From SAKE to Taiwan...

a. Life in Chinatown
b. Mexican Buds
c. Exotic Overnights
d. Lots of Drink Alone Time
e. The Kiss of Death...divorce papers
f. Kissing China Goodbye

Part 11 VIVA LAS VEGAS!...Making the Moves

a. Gambling on "LOVE" in Sin City
b. I'm Flying High
c. I'm Flying Low
d. Busted at the Throttle

Part 12 Off I GO...From FAA to AA...to a Landing on Jupiter

THE END

The Beginning

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Catalogue Information

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