From Typewriter to Takeoff

Before Amelia Earhart, there was Harriet Quimbythe daring journalist turned aviatrix who conquered the skies.Harriet Quimby was once one of the best-known women of the early twentieth century. An international celebrity, she achieved many firsts during her lifethe first New York journalist to capture the world with a camera; an early woman driver capable of serving as mechanic for her 1905 Cadillac Runabout; one of the first silent-film actresses, who authored screenplays for director D.W. Griffith; the nation's first woman to earn a pilot's license; the first woman to fly solo over Mexico and across the English Channel; and a celebrity paid a handsome fee of $100,000 to be the featured flier in the 1912 Boston Air Show. Amelia Earhart said of her predecessor, ';To cross the English Channel in 1912 required more bravery and skill than to cross the Atlantic today. . . . We must remember that, in thinking of America's first great woman flier's accomplishment.'Harriet was clearly a risk-taker in all aspects of her life and career: a gutsy, passionate, woman with fire in her eyes and unwavering resolve, living in a man's world and loving every minute of it while keeping her striking femininity smartly intact. The tragedy of her all-too-brief life encompasses much of historical interest and mirrors one of the most interesting eras of American history.