Eddie August Schneider

Eddie August Henry Schneider (October 20, 1911 – December 23, 1940) was an American aviator who set three transcontinental airspeed records for pilots under the age of twenty-one in 1930. His plane was a Cessna Model AW with a Warner-Scarab engine, one of only 48 built, that he called "The Kangaroo". He set the east-to-west, then the west-to-east, and the combined round trip record. He was the youngest certificated pilot in the United States, and the youngest certified airplane mechanic. He was a pilot in the Spanish Civil War in the Yankee Squadron. He died in an airplane crash in 1940 while training another pilot, when a Boeing-Stearman Model 75 belonging to the United States Navy Reserve overtook him and clipped his plane's tail at Floyd Bennett Field.

Birth and family

Eddie August Henry Schneider was born in 1911 at 2nd Avenue and 17th Street in Manhattan in New York. His father was Emil August Schneider (1886–1955) who was born in Bielefeld, Germany. His mother was Inga Karoline Eldora Pedersen (1882–1927), who was born in Farsund, Norway. Eddie had one full sibling: Alice Violetta Schneider (1913–2002) who married John Harms (1905–1985). He was never called Edward but was baptized as "Eddie".

The Kangaroo (song)

"The Kangaroo" is a 1953 instrumental written and recorded by Les Paul and released as a single.

Background

Les Paul built the tune upon a rhythm track originally intended for a cover of "Stompin' at the Savoy." Norman Gimbel later wrote lyrics for the tune, which was published by the Deerhaven Music Corporation. Although released as an instrumental, Gimbel and Paul share publishing credit on the record label. "The Kangaroo" was released as a Capitol records 7" vinyl 45 single as F2614, Matrix #45-11879. The single was also released as a Capitol 10" shellac 78 single. The flip side was "Don'cha Hear Them Bells". The single reached no. 25 on the Billboard chart and no. 23 on the Cash Box chart in 1953.

Album Appearances

The instrumental appeared on the 1991 Capitol Records collection Les Paul: The Legend and the Legacy and the 2004 compilation Les Paul: Isle of Golden Dreams: The Decca and Capitol Years on Universal Distribution/Universe.

References

Sources