The Topical Tuesday series sees guest speakers from the St Paul’s Community share their take on the current environment.
On April 12, 1961, a young Russian, Yuri Gagarin, sat on top of the world’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile and launched into space, the first human in history to do so. Eleven minutes later, travelling at 18,000 mph, ten times the speed of a rifle bullet, he looked through his porthole and saw what no eye had ever seen before: the Earth from space. Drawing on research from his critically-acclaimed new book Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave our Planet, Stephen Walker OP, 1975-78 takes us back sixty years to the drama, the appalling risks, and the sensational triumph of one of the greatest rides in history.
After leaving St Paul’s Stephen Walker went on to receive a BA in History from Oxford and an MA in the History of Science from Harvard. For twelve years he was a producer/director at the BBC, later setting up his own award-winning television production company, Walker George Films. He has directed some thirty television documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and US networks. Hiroshima – A Day that Shook the World was nominated for three Emmys, winning one. A Boy Called Alex, about a musical prodigy at Eton who has cystic fibrosis, was nominated for three BAFTAs. Young@Heart, a documentary about an American chorus of seniors who sing rock music, won the Los Angeles Film Festival Audience Award and was released in cinemas across the US by Fox Searchlight in 2008. He has also written three books including Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima, which was a New York Times Bestseller. Beyond is his latest book. He lives in London and occasionally flies a tiny plane for a hobby in which he successfully terrifies all his friends.
Suggested donation – £10 per household.
Find out more about St Paul’s Topical events here
The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Topical Tuesdays Series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of St Paul’s School and its employees. The webinars are available for private, non-commercial use only – you may not edit, modify or redistribute.