Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am

Booky Call - Bringing Books To Life

Who should swipe right on me?

I got a thing for those who seek independence, crave adventure and keep their wits even in unchartered waters. I’m looking for a date who likes to break barriers, sink stereotypes and enjoys stepping back in time. If you have a wanderlust to discover new places and meet new people, we can fly to new heights together.

What are my most attractive traits?

I have these five dear friends who tell mind-blowing stories about their time as Pan Am stewardesses in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. I’ve heard the stories so many times I can tell them myself. I’ve got funny stories about their times in training, harrowing memories of them surviving hijackings and war zones, tear-jerkers about them helping to rescue babies from Vietnam, and infuriating reminders of the chauvinism they endured.

There’s a little dorkiness in each of us. Here’s what makes me dorky.

I enjoy busting myths and stomping on stereotypes. I’m pretty forceful in clearing up misperceptions. It makes me furious when I hear comments about how stewardesses were just vapid, promiscuous young women. That’s simply not true, and I have the facts to prove it.

I like to be inspirational. Here is one of my favorite quotes to inspire you.

“As individuals, stewardesses shared an instinct to roam that propelled their personal and professional growth, each woman in her own way. As a group, stewardesses forever shifted the American woman’s place in her country and the world.”

I’m a sucker for a great one-liner. Here’s one of my favorites.

“What was revolutionary was the lack of should in this job, the plenitude of could.”

What do I spend a lot of time thinking about?

I find myself marveling at contradictions. An unmarried American woman in a powder blue Pan Am uniform enjoyed the independence to roam around Beirut or Moscow without an escort in the 1960s but did not enjoy the independence to legally purchase birth control pills when she returned home. I’m full of these thought-provoking contradictions.

What will we eat/drink on our first date?

We will be dining at an upscale French bistro, of course, but we will get to know each other over dry martinis, just like my Pan Am friends used to serve in long-stemmed glasses on all those transcontinental flights.

If that first date goes well, I’ll want to take you home to introduce you to you know who. Let me tell you about them.

Julia Cooke is a journalist best known for her travel writing. Her debut novel “The Other Side of Paradise: Life in the New Cuba” won critical acclaim. My book mama is the daughter of a Pan Am executive, but she didn’t think too much about the airline’s historical significance until she met two of my Pan Am friends. She knew she had to give credit to these smart, sophisticated pioneers who made it easier for women of her generation to be independent, risk-taking, globe-trotting professionals.

What celebrity would sound best if you dated my audio version?

Christina Hendricks could certainly tell you all about the heady days of jet travel in the 1960s and early ‘70s. Just like the character she played on “Mad Men,” my Pan Am friends know all about how to thrive in a man’s world.

The Details

Publisher - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Pages: 288

Publication Date: March 2, 2021