Tom Huitema

Captain Tom spent nearly forty years of his life as an airline pilot, passing FAA medical exams every six months with flying colors. His Airman Medical Examiner would say, "I wish all my exams were as easy as yours." Even EKGs didn't reveal the undiagnosed bomb ticking away inside his chest. One night the fuse met the pounder keg and his heart stopped. It reshuffled the deck but motivated him to write. Elements of his past reawakened. Not wanting to lose those once-forgotten parts, he documented them daily, trimming those pieces into "Flying and Dying." His therapy has been two-fold. Beyond writing, Pilot Recruitment/Hiring duties allow him to pass the torch to the next generation of airline pilots. He can hand them a four-decade perspective ending in an uncommon path. Many NDEs have been documented and Huitema initially considered that his story blended with hundreds of others. He wrote not intending his compilation to become a book. In time, a series of once-forgotten parts of his past united to become a well-formed timeline. Noticing the impact of his story, he eventually released the compilation as a memoir. Rather than center around the NDE, he focused on the strength and wisdom he accumulated throughout his life and career. Captain Tom continues to motivate and mentor aspiring pilots, attends pilot conferences, and enjoys speaking engagements. He's otherwise at his lake home in western Michigan or off the grid paddling into a wave on a remote Central American shore.