Hell-Rider to King of the Air

For six and a half years, Kirk W. House was either curator or director-curator of the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York. Before that, he spent 21 years as a schoolteacher and administrator. Widely known as a historian of early aviation, he has written extensively on the subject (including two earlier books and nine encyclopedia entries), in addition to making several appearances on national television. ”That open-cockpit era has always fascinated me” House says, “the days when men and women set off across a countryside that was encountering wings for the first time.” I’m also absorbed by the human and social side of innovation- how those factors drive the process, and find themselves then changed in turn by the changes they have wrought. Curtiss is a natural for that field of study, and his life makes a whale of a story.” House holds degrees from Rhode Island College and Lehigh University. Today, he is an independent writer, editor, and researcher, working largely in the fields of history and tourism. He lives with his wife and their two sons in Bath, New York.