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New York Post
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
The high-flying life — and love —of aviatrix Amelia Earhart
She was the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean, and the first to accomplish that feat solo. She was a superstar, the most famous woman in the world. She was a pilot, 'it' girl, author, adventurer, fashion designer, evangelist and martyr all in one. Her mysterious and shocking disappearance over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, while attempting to fly around the world, only heightened her legend. Nearly 100 years after her first transatlantic flight, she's still the most famous aviatrix who ever lived: a feminist hero and inspiration to little girls (and boys) everywhere who dream of a daring life. Advertisement 8 Airwoman Amelia Earhart's lesser-known life and marriage are detailed in a new book. Getty Images 8 Amelia Earhart stands in front of her bi-plane called 'Friendship' in Newfoundland on June 14, 1928. Getty Images She's Amelia Earhart. But, as Laurie Gwen Shapiro reveals in a new biography, there's a lot about her that we don't know. 'More people have gotten Amelia Earhart wrong than perhaps any other person in the last century,' Shapiro writes in her new book, 'The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon' (Viking, July 15). Advertisement 'Wrong 'facts' about every single aspect of her life. Wrong conclusions about her personality, her career, her goals, her sexuality. And her disappearance.' Shapiro's 450-page tome paints a more complicated portrait of the pilot — specifically through the lens of her controversial relationship with her manager, publisher and (eventual) husband, George Putnam. 8 Earhart and Putman in 1931. source: International News Photos, wikimedia commons Advertisement Known as the P.T. Barnum of book publishing, Putnam made Earhart into a star: He chose her to fly across the Atlantic as the first woman to make the journey by plane — and to have her write about it. He got her lucrative endorsement deals and speaking gigs. He taught her to close her mouth for pictures to hide the gap between her teeth and advised her on her insouciant tousled hairdo, telling her to cut her bob shorter so she resembled famous pilot Charles Lindbergh. He relentlessly promoted her and talked her up to the press. He blew up his marriage to a wealthy heiress for her. 8 Some of the many magazines on which Earhart appeared after her daring solo flights. Photo by Adam Lawrence Advertisement Yet Putnam notoriously pushed his authors to extreme lengths for the sake of publicity and sales. And he took special advantage of Earhart's easygoing, eager-to-please nature. He overscheduled her, booking her for endless talks and galas throughout the country. He scoffed at her need to practice flying and gain proper training and skills. (She was supposed to be the best pilot ever, he reasoned, why would she need more training!) He encouraged her recklessness, setting up dangerous stunts for a quick buck or a sensational headline. Earhart went along with it. On one hand, she was fiercely independent; a staunch feminist, she insisted that she and Putnam keep their finances separate and their marriage open after she finally accepted his proposal. Yet she let him control her time, her obligations and her public image. And she seemed, despite his oafishness, to love him. His rapaciousness catapulted Earhart into the stratosphere. Did it also cause her downfall? 8 Amelia Earhart greets a cheering crowd at Hyde Park High School in 1928. Photo by Mark Gulezian/NPG All Amelia Earhart knew when she arrived at George Putnam's office in the spring of 1928 was that someone in New York City wanted to talk with her about a possible flying venture. The 31-year-old Atchison, Kan., native had fallen in love with aviation while volunteering with the Red Cross in a Toronto hospital during World War I. There, she befriended some officers from the Royal Flying Corps. Watching her pilot friends in the air thrilled her. 'Despite my long hours, I made time for the flying fields,' she wrote. '[The pilots'] youth, their charisma, those takeoffs — it all left an impression.' Advertisement In 1921 — after a stint at Columbia University in New York City — she moved to Los Angeles and began taking flying lessons, scrimping and saving every penny she made through odd jobs, including driving a Mack truck, which horrified her Victorian mother. 8 Earhart's chic bob and elegant attire were reminiscent of fellow air-titan Charles Lindbergh. Library of Congress Earhart, it seems, had several suitors during her time in California, including a long-suffering fiancé who followed her to Boston. But she was more interested in reaching new heights than in settling down. She continued her aerial adventures on the East Coast, exhibiting a flair for promotion. A photo of her soaring over Boston while air-dropping admission passes to a carnival at the settlement house where she worked made the local papers. While performing in 'air rodeos' out West, she cultivated her uniform: sleeping in her leather jacket to achieve the perfect amount of rugged cool. Advertisement Putnam, meanwhile, was looking for his next bestseller. The publisher had previously struck gold commissioning (usually ghostwritten) memoirs from Arctic explorers, intrepid Boy Scouts and other adventurers embarking on life-threatening journeys. Now, he was on the hunt for a woman for a secret flying mission across the Atlantic — and the publishing rights to her tale. Earhart wasn't the best pilot, but she had innate charisma, passion and drive. She also was striking, lissome with almond-shaped eyes and a wide, inviting smile. She combined an all-American earnestness (she didn't drink and rarely smoked) with the liberated mind and fashion sense of the modern Jazz Age woman. The married Putnam was smitten. 8 Book cover for 'The Aviator and the Showman.' As his friend who arranged the meeting recalled years later: 'It was love at first sight.' Advertisement Earhart, along with pilot Wilmer Stultz and mechanic and co-pilot Louis Gordon, set off to Europe on June 3, 1928. The press went wild. They wanted to know everything about this intrepid female flier, tracking down her family members and her on-again-off-again fiancé — much to Putnam's surprise. After they had to land in Newfoundland, due to weather, the trio made it to Wales on June 5. Earhart was celebrated and feted, but it was a bittersweet moment. She did not get to touch the controls of the plane even once — and, maybe more embarrassing, she realized that if she had, she did not possess the skill to maneuver a heavy aircraft in such rough conditions. Worse, writes Shapiro, she felt like a 'faker' due to 'George's excessive promotion of her as a pilot.' She resolved to really work on her flying skills when she got back home. Advertisement 8 Author Laurie Gwen Shapiro. Yet, Putnam had other plans. He had her go to England, where she borrowed fancy gowns and went to endless parties, meeting Winston Churchill and Lady Astor. Then, once back in the States, he had her stay at his family's house in Rye, NY, to work on her book. He also booked her for appearances and conferences and took her out to eat and to the theater — often with his wife. Even after the book was published, Putnam made sure Earhart did everything but fly. He got her an aviation column for Cosmopolitan magazine. He secured endorsement deals for Lucky Strike. He had her launch her own fashion, stationary and luggage lines. Even after they married, in 1931, he continued taking a 10% commission on all the endorsements and speaking engagements. 'We thought he was taking advantage of Amelia,' one friend said. 'She was his meal ticket.' When she set out to do the Atlantic crossing again, this time by herself, many of her colleagues worried. Yet, in 1932, she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic solo. Maybe Earhart wasn't just really brave. Maybe she was becoming a really great pilot. Earhart famously died in 1937 while attempting to make her most spectacular flight yet — around the world on her own. Before that fateful flight, Shapiro recounts, the 39-year-old pilot told a reporter, ironically, that she had one fear: 'growing old.'
Chicago Tribune
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Amelia Earhart soars back into the headlines in new book ‘The Aviator and the Showman'
Where's Amelia? We're still looking, though recent events seem to offer the possibility, the I emphasize, that we may find out what happened to aviatrix Amelia Earhart, who, along with navigator Fred Noonan, vanished in their twin-engine Lockheed Model 10E Electra as they attempted to fly around the world. Here's a recent report from Travel Noire: 'U.S. researchers have announced a new mission to locate Amelia Earhart's lost plane. … The expedition … follows compelling satellite imagery that potentially shows parts of Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E protruding from the sand on Nikumaroro, a remote island in Kiribati, approximately 1,000 miles from Fiji.' We shall see. But this 'news' has popped Earhart back into the news. She vanished in 1937, 88 years ago if you're counting, and few mysteries have been as durable, few people as eternally alluring as Earhart. You would be hard-pressed to find a contemporary comparison to match her. She has an official agent and website. Hilary Swank played her in a movie. There have been many books. And there's Amelia Earhart Elementary School at 1710 E. 93rd St. in the city's Calumet Heights neighborhood. Also an exciting new book, 'The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon' by Laurie Gwen Shapiro. Set for formal publication on July 15, it has already created a buzz, with a lengthy excerpt in The New Yorker magazine and a number of favorable reviews. David Grann, the author of such bestsellers as 'The Wager' and 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' says the book is 'an exhilarating tale of the adventurous life of Amelia Earhart and the remarkable relationship that helped to forge her legend … stripping away the myths and revealing something far more profound and intricate and true.' Publishers Weekly calls it a 'nuanced reprisal of Earhart's life (that) certainly tarnishes her reputation, but thereby makes her saga all the more captivating.' And makes the story of her husband all the more disgusting. His name was George Palmer Putnam, who had published aviator Charles Lindbergh's hugely successful life story before he met Earhart. On the prowl for another such novelty and hero, he glommed onto her, taken by her modest accomplishments but also her physical attractiveness and charisma. He wooed her and he promoted her. He's the one who gave her the 'Lady Lindy' tag and further cemented their relationship by having her write her own book, tour the country in her own plane, give hundreds of interviews, embark on a lecture tour, serve as the 'aviation editor' of Cosmopolitan magazine and endorse all sorts of products, including cigarettes. Smart he was, shrewd too. And a master manipulator who left his own wife to marry Earhart. (And, unusually for the time, Earhart did not adopt Putnam's last name). No question he pushed her but did he push her too far? Read the book. But know that you will find a man about whom writer Gore Vidal, whose father was a partner with Putnam and Earhart in an aviation venture, said, 'I never knew anyone who liked Putnam. It was quite interesting. Everybody who knew him disliked him. Some people disliked him and found him amusing and some people disliked him and found him unamusing.' Certainly, many of you know some basics of Earhart's life and a few know of her local connections, even though she wasn't here long. Born and raised in Kansas in 1897, she and her family moved around a bit before coming here in 1914. Her father, Edwin, was a lawyer with a dangerous relationship with booze, and her mother, also named Amelia but called Amy, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. So, in 1914, Amy and her two daughters (Amelia and Muriel) came to Chicago at the invitation of friends and lived in the Beverly neighborhood home of their friends. Amelia, soon to begin her senior year, found the chemistry lab at nearby Morgan Park High School looked 'just like a kitchen sink.' So she traveled north to spend her senior year at the highly regarded Hyde Park High School, graduating as a member of the class of 1915. She did little to distinguish herself — no activities noted in the yearbook — and then it was off to college. She worked as a social worker and got hooked on airplanes. She had her first flying lesson early in 1921 and, in six months, bought her first plane. In 1928, she was asked to be a passenger with male aviators on a flight across the Atlantic Ocean, emphasis on . Together with pilot Bill Stultz and co-pilot Louis Gordon, she flew in the airplane Friendship, acting as navigator on the flight. On June 18, after 20 hours of flying, they landed in Wales and she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air. Acclaim was fast and furious. After lively visits to New York City and Boston, she came here and the celebrations and events were all but overwhelming. She visited Hyde Park High School, where a band played 'Back in Your Own Back Yard'; spoke at the Union League Club and at Orchestra Hall; was cheered by large crowds as she was paraded through the Loop; heard about Mayor Thompson's idea for a lakefront airport to be named Amelia Earhart Field. Headlines blared: 'Old Hyde Park School Friends Fete Girl Flyer.' Earhart spoke: 'I've always loved Chicago.' Famous forever for being lost, there is no denying that she was an inspiration for self-determined feminists and everyday daredevils, but I now think of her also as shy and vulnerable, a victim of shrewd manipulation by a slick operator. Doris Rich, author of 'Amelia Earhart: A Biography,' published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1989, has said, 'The one thing that she really feared was that nothing would happen. She had to have an important life, and that meant you had to have adventure.' That she did, but at what cost?
