The Fun of It

In this breezy and enthusiastic book, originally published in 1932, Amelia Earhart recollects her childhood and her youth, and the almost accidental discovery that she would rather fly planes than do anything else. She writes with an engaging blend of professionalism and love, describing the machines, the pioneering flights, the risks and challenges, in exuberant detail. She also speaks directly to other young women, urging them to test themselves, to go as far and as high as they can-and beyond. Women, she believed, had a natural and important role in aviation; but among the many women fliers present in this book, Amelia Earhart is still the best remembered. Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas in 1897 and worked as a nurse, teacher, and social worker before making flying her life's interest. Before one dangerous flight-as she took on new risks and challenges-she wrote to her husband, George Palmer Putnam, "I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others". In 1937, she embarked with navigator Fred Noonan on a round-the-world flight that ended when their plane disappeared in the South Pacific. As one of the best-known figures in twentieth-century America, Amelia Earhart-and her fate-remain an object of perpetual interest even to this day.