BECKLEY, W.Va. — It will be another homecoming for McDowell County native Homer Hickam at this weekend’s October Sky Festival. It’s the 15th year for the event which celebrates Hickam’s most famous work Rocket Boys which became the hit movie October Sky.
“The only problem with coming back to West Virginia for me is I get loved to death,” said Hickam. “I’ll try to persevere with all that love.”
Hickam’s classic story of himself and three friends growing up in the town of Coalwood has become a classic showcase of West Virginia values from a different era. The festival features a number of different activities stemming from the movie. Originally, the festival was held in Hickam’s native town of Coalwood, but has since moved to the Exhibition Coal Mine in Beckley.
As has become tradition, Hickam isn’t coming back alone. Visiting the festival this year is actor Chris Ellis who played the principal of Big Creek High School Mr. Turner in the movie.
“He wanted to come so badly,” said Hickam. “He’s only been to West Virginia once before, he’s an Iowa boy and he’s looking forward to seeing the real West Virginia and meeting real West Virginians. We’re looking forward to having him and seeing him again.”
Hickam said Ellis was actually a pivotal figure on the set of the movie and often served as a calming influence between Hickam and the movie producers about how the story would be told and how West Virginia would be portrayed in the movie.
“I’m a West Virginian and I’ve taken all this with it’s proper due I think and that is it’s not about me,” said Hickam. “I wrote a book that happened to transcend me as an author that was taken to the hearts of people around the world. It has all the values of West Virginia in it and then they came out with what turned out to be a pretty darn good movie that West Virginians are proud of.”