Davis: My stepfather and mother left Florida when I was about 10 years old. I moved to Nashville. I talked about in the book how my stepfather was a psychologist, and he had a friend who opened up a practice here in Huntsville. So we all moved to Huntsville. My parents wanted to get out of this little town where we lived in Florida for more opportunity for me, and for them as well. And so we moved here in 1963.
As you know, we started flying in space in 1961. And we just had the challenge from President Kennedy to go to the moon before the end of the decade, before the end of the 1960s. Huntsville was one of those places that was booming. I mean, we couldn't even find a house. It was growing so fast, and it was so exciting to be there at that time. They were testing the engines, and the whole town would shake and vibrate, and break windows. It was like, "Wow, we're going to the moon!" Also going to school with the German teams' kids, and other engineers' kids, greatly influenced me and my interest in the space program. It was all around me.
Liking math and science drew me to engineering. I never dreamed I would work in the space program, but the people supporting the space program had a big influence on my career selection, and I had great teachers. And of course, we had lots of talks about people in the space program: things that they were using, their models and how things worked. So it was a great place to grow up, especially as it relates to the space program.