Most often identified as the supportive wife of legendary aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, or as tragic victim of the "crime of the century", Anne Morrow Lindbergh went on to become a highly successful and respected writer and diarist. However, a recent biography by Kathleen C. Winters, Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air, focuses on an entirely different aspect of Mrs. Lindbergh, as "one of the defining figures of American aviation" in her own right.
Ann Played Crucial Role in Exploration
Winters' biography draws on extensive research to tell the story of young newlywed Anne and her handsome pilot husband --who just happened to be the most famous man on Earth at the time-- circumnavigating the planet several times to scout future air routes and airport sites, with Anne in the crucial role of navigator/radio operator.
During these historic explorations Anne often relieved Charles of piloting duties as well. Winters makes it clear that, although she was taught to fly by Charles, Anne was not just "along for the ride", but had viable skills which she continually honed. The 1930's were the "Golden Age of Aviation" and the Lindberghs were at the forefront.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air draws the reader quickly into the narrative with a prologue that jumps into the middle of the story, vividly describing one of the Lindberghs' flights over South America: "...Fifteen hours after takeoff, Charles waggled the wings, alerting Anne to lift her head from the radio work and look out. Far ahead, she saw the green Brazilian coast emerging through a sultry blue haze...Charles raised a hand, signaling five minutes to landing..."
Author's Identification with Mrs. Lindbergh Benefits Book
With this particular flight, Anne became the first woman to to fly the South Atlantic, just one of many "firsts", including becoming the first American woman to earn a glider pilot's license. Winters goes on to deftly describe several of these long distance flights, and it's here that her background becomes apparent.
Like her subject, the author is an "airwoman" whose experience in flight translates beautifully onto the page. Kathleen Winters earned her pilot's license by the age of 20, and has won several awards including the Anne Morrow Lindbergh Trophy for piloting a 310 mile glider flight in 2007.
Winters' extensive research also benefits this biography --and hence the reader-- a great deal. With the blessing of the Lindberghs' daughter Reeve, the author was able to access restricted family papers, flight logs and radio logs, to piece together a story that has been called "the most extensive coverage of this aspect of Anne Morrow Lindbergh."
Beyond capturing the essence of the Lindberghs' flights together, which form the core of the book, Winters does cover some of the other ground necessary to provide some context. Young Anne Morrow's somewhat sheltered and privileged upbringing, as well as the infamous tragedy of the kidnapping and subsequent murder of her firstborn child each have a chapter here.
Somewhat more coverage is given to the struggles Ann and her family faced later, as well as the writing career that sprang from all that came before. As a writer, Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote seventeen books, five of which are memoirs in diary form, containing some of the finest descriptions of flight ever written. It's not hard to see then, author Winters' identification with Lindbergh, as her biography, Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air can be described in much the same way.
Winters, Kathleen C. Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air, 2006 Palgrave MacMillan pp.240
(ISBN: 13: 978-1-4039-6932-3)
 |
