re: The impression I got
I met Shepard and got him to dedicate my copy to my son. He did not seem to like my request, and looked at me with his infamous steely gaze.
But he struck me as incredibly focused and with a real depth of character. I wish his and Slayton's book had gone in more for the internal dynamics of the office they ran, because it seems to be a great example of both the worst and best of what NASA was in those days.
I have met a few Shuttle era astronauts at Houston area stuff and have fuond them all to be very profssional, well presented and interesting, but then I am a total space fanatic.
Ed