— self-directed, unconventional and unafraid—was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, the first person to fly solo across the Pacific, and the first person to cross both oceans alone in an airplane before she vanished mysteriously over the Pacific in July 1937.
Richly illustrated, color biography
This visually stunning, compelling biography by
New York Times bestselling author Susan Wels
reveals fascinating new details about Amelia Earhart’s life and the search for answers to the mystery of her disappearance.
Filled with more than 300 images, objects and personal documents, many never published before, Amelia Earhart: The Thrill of It is a gorgeous volume that vividly captures the essence of Amelia Earhart and shines new light on her amazing story.
Excerpts from Amelia Earhart: The Thrill of It
- Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE The Girl in Brown Who Walks Alone CHAPTER TWO Vagabonding CHAPTER THREE Taking Off CHAPTER FOUR The Hero Business CHAPTER FIVE High Flyer CHAPTER SIX The Last Grand Adventure CHAPTER SEVEN Amelia’s Wake
- Chapter 1 excerpt
The Girl in Brown Who Walks Alone
“On a clear day in January 1921, a tall, slender young woman—wearing brown breeches, high laced boots, and a brown jacket—walked miles down a dusty highway to a weedy airfield surrounded by vegetable farms south of Los Angeles. Amelia Earhart—well groomed, with a library book on aerodynamics tucked under her arm—would have stood out in any crowd, according to her flying instructor. She was a loner—her high school yearbook dubbed her “the girl in brown who walks alone”—but she was also a leader, a bookish tomboy who was more fun and adventurous than anyone else and who threw herself at experience, especially the wildly exciting kind. She also had her inner “deeps,” private wells of emotion and sharp sensitivities that she felt profoundly but seldom shared.”
- Chapter 3 excerpt
“For Amelia Earhart, the unexpected, as she put it, became the inevitable. On an afternoon in April, as children were swarming into Denison House after school, she was busy steering them to classes and activities and making sure that game leaders and teachers were all present and ready. In the middle of all the commotion, a youngster came up to her, saying she was wanted on the telephone. Amelia said she was too busy, and that whoever it was should phone back later. The caller, the child insisted, said it was important, so Amelia dropped what she was doing and reluctantly went over to the phone. On the line, she heard a male voice introducing himself as Hilton Railey and asking her, enigmatically, if she would like to participate in “an important but hazardous flight.” At first, Amelia thought it was a joke—and said so—but the frank admission of risk, she later said, thrilled her
- Chapter 4 excerpt
The Hero Business
“Amelia Earhart made her decision. Married life with G. P., she realized, would not be easy. Ten years older than she was and set in his ways, he could be exasperating—irascible and moody, with an ungenerous streak4while Amelia was quiet and calm and shunned confrontation. But she had always been attracted to risk—and besides, G. P. would handle all the ‘grubby’ details of her public career and make sure she earned enough money to fund her passion for flying. Amelia also knew that he respected her need for autonomy and independence—he was ‘the one person,’ she judged, ‘who could put up with me’—and theirs could be an amiable, even affectionate partnership.”
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