Rinker Buck


Rinker Buck is an American author who is best known for his 1997 memoir Flight of Passage.

Early life

Rinker Buck was born and raised in Morristown, New Jersey, the fourth child of Mary Patricia Buck and political activist and Look Magazine publisher Thomas Francis Buck. He has five brothers and five sisters.

1966 flight

In the winter of 1965/1966, Rinker and his older brother Kernahan, a licensed pilot, devised a plan to rebuild their father's 1948 Piper PA-11 and fly it from Somerset Hills Airport in Basking Ridge, NJ to Capistrano Airport in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Their journey took six days and was completed in July 1966. The flight is the subject of Buck's 1997 memoir Flight of Passage.

Journalism career

Buck began his career in journalism shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. His first job was writing for the Berkshire Eagle in 1973. He then served as reporter for New York, Life, Hartford Courant, Adweek and several other national publications.

Awards