Rick has produced countless bylines for a wide variety of publications and websites, including everything from NASCAR to NASA to NCAA sports. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Rick has also written nine books and contributed chapters to two others, and served as an associate producer and consultant on the documentary film Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo produced by Haviland Digital about the people who worked in mission control during the Apollo era. That project was inspired by Rick’s most recent book, Go, Flight! The Unsung Heroes of Mission Control (University of Nebraska Press 2015). Rick has been married since 1996 to Jeanie, a district court judge in four northwestern North Carolina counties. They have twin teenaged sons, Adam and Jesse, who are sophomores in high school. He also has an adult son, Richard, from a previous marriage.