9 Comments

Outstanding article today! This is a story I never knew. It is also timely as my daughter is currently in JAFROTC (high school) and has an interest in flying.

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It's amazing to me, in this time where everyone seems to want to be TikTok famous for nothing, that Jerrie Mock was content to slip back into obscurity after such fantastic accomplishments.

Now that's a person I'd want at my "if you could have anyone living or dead over for dinner" party.

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Sounds like an amazing adventure !

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founding

That’s definitely the best “Well actually” moment I ever heard. Coolest too! Good for Rita and another great story Bill!

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Thanks for writing this article. I have never heard of Jerrie Mock or her story and I was born in '52. I'll be looking for her book.

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Fantastic! Absolutely made my retired USAF day.

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Great story. However, I did a quick search on who that second woman was to fly solo around the world and found ... nothing. It speaks to our fascination with being "first", since doing the same thing at the same time is just as incredible, right? Same era, same technology, similar problems. It also speaks to being the first in a category - first woman, or youngest person, or first person from a certain group (in the many ways you can define groups - race, nationality, disability). There's more to explore here. Anyone flying around the world in that era did an amazing thing - whether solo or not. Now, however, technology has made it much easier, the difficulties are fewer and less threatening.

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Bill, this newsletter has fueled and expanded my reading repertoire. This story about Jerrie Mock is yet another!

It brings to mind the book “Dove” about the youngest sailor to go around the world solo. I don’t remember his name, but National Geographic sponsored him, and I eagerly awaited the issues that documented his trip… of course, later on, he wrote the book. And interestingly, after that experience, he left the sea and went to live in the mountains.

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I honestly can’t see me wanting to use any AI / ChatGPT technology. The only social media platform I use is Facebook/Meta - limited to family and friends only. Our household does have Alexa, but it’s rarely used.

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