No Page Unturned Book Club Discussing Come Fly the World

Virtual Program

Join the No Page Unturned Book Club for an online discussion of Come Fly the Word: the jet-age story of the women of Pan Am by Julia Cooke

This is a virtual event and will be hosted on WebEx Meetings via the following link.

https://lacountylibrary.webex.com/lacountylibrary/j.php?MTID=m4b2436cd4c76de3c0c486ff55d746df6

Summary of Come Fly the Word: the jet-age story of the women of Pan Am by Julia Cooke. (provided by the publisher):

Glamour, danger, liberation: Required to have a college education, speak two languages, and possess the political savvy of a Foreign Service officer, a jet-age stewardess serving on iconic Pan Am between 1966 and 1975 also had to be between 5′3" and 5′9", between 105 and 140 pounds, and under 26 years of age at the time of hire. Julia Cooke’s intimate storytelling weaves together the real-life stories of a memorable cast of characters, from small-town girl Lynne Totten, a science major who decided life in a lab was not for her, to Hazel Bowie, one of the relatively few Black stewardesses of the era, as they embraced the liberation of their new jet-set life. Cooke brings to light the story of Pan Am stewardesses’ role in the Vietnam War, as the airline added runs from Saigon to Hong Kong for planeloads of weary young soldiers straight from the battlefields, who were off for five days of R&R, and then flown back to war. Finally, with Operation Babylift—the dramatic evacuation of 2,000 children during the fall of Saigon—the book’s special cast of stewardesses unites to play an extraordinary role on the world stage.

To borrow a print copy of the book, please contact the library. Digital versions may be available through the library's digital resources via Overdrive (eBook or audiobook).

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