Amelia by Nancy Nahra Read Free Book Online

efforts of Putnam. By now acting as her manager, he wanted Earhart’s reputation continue to grow. So he made sure to keep her in the public eye from the minute she returned from the Friendship flight.
Too Easy to Try For
    Sometimes Earhart needed no prodding to claim attention for herself, but when she saw any hint of condescension toward women pilots, she was unstoppable. In 1929, the National Aeronautical Association in Washington heard from her – again and again.
    In a proposed race from Los Angeles to Cleveland, well-meaning planners decided that women deserved special accommodations. It was suggested that women take men as navigators or the starting point could be moved to the eastern side of the Rockies, since it would be too difficult for a woman to fly over the mountains. Earhart had heard from women pilots in California that film star Bebe Daniels had entered the race. That alarmed women who flew; if men were to navigate, then every actress in Hollywood might claim to be a pilot and show up for the race.
    Speaking for other women pilots, Earhart declared in a telegram to Washington: “None of us will enter [the race] unless it is going to be a real sporting contest.” The planners backed down.
    Aviation was increasingly capturing the public’s attention. Reports on flying demonstrations started appearing in the news. In April of 1930, newspaper articles described a mock naval battle. Sixty-nine planes staged a three-hour attack on an aircraft carrier off the Virginia coast. One plane took off from the carrier every ten seconds, flew in formation, then pretended to attack the mother-ship, which responded by pretending to defend itself with anti-aircraft guns. Naval aviation “bared its fighting teeth” that day, proclaimed one article.
    Naturally, advance publicity for the 1930 New York Air Show at Madison Square Garden made it sound like a must-see event. Not only would it offer “the largest gathering of transport airplanes ever placed under one roof” – a total of only six planes – there would also be famous people. Readers learned that the show, “. . . will bring out such fliers as Clarence D. Chamberlin, Miss Amelia Earhart, and Frank Hawks.”
    Just weeks later, an advertisement in The New York Times reminded the public that May 20, 1930 marked the third anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s record-breaking flight. The paper praised itself as being “foremost in aviation news.” To justify the distinction it was claiming, the ad noted that it had printed: “. . . the personal narratives of more famous aviators on momentous flights than any other newspaper – Byrd, Wilkins (Point Barrow to Spitzbergen), Fitzmaurice, Chamberlin, Amelia Earhart and others.”
Help Mate as Marriage Mate
    Busy as Putnam kept her, Earhart soon began to notice that he came close toher idea of a husband. They were constantly in each other’s company, but their dealings mainly centered on her work and his promotion of her books, her lectures, her opportunities, and her connections. He helped her bring out her first book, and then knew he wanted another. As a publisher, he recognized good writing, but, as a promoter, he could also recognize a natural, a crowd pleaser, a show woman who instinctively connected with other people. George Putnam knew better than anyone that Amelia Earhart had all those qualities.
Family Ties
    Early in their business dealings, Putnam knew little about Earhart’s private life, especially her relationship with her parents. Few people did. Well aware of her mother’s inability to support herself, Earhart provided for her. Their letters show Earhart’s concern about her mother in case a plane crash might end their arrangement. A letter written early in 1930 records Earhart’s announcement to Amy that the $100 check she was sending was only the first of what would be regular monthly payments from the Fifth Avenue Bank. The letter then specifies that all Earhart’s earnings had been put into