Invisible Ocean.”
On her first morning in London she awakened to an avalanche of editorial praise from American and foreign newspapers. As an aviator she was commended for her “unquenchable determination to go on attempting the hitherto unachieved, no matter how great the dangers” and for her intent “to render service to commercial aviation, not to make a sensation.” As a woman she was acclaimed for “a feat none of her sex had accomplished, though many had attempted it.” She had not failed “to bring home to everyone the fine spirit of audacity shown by her sex in this age.”
Criticism was minimal, the most cutting in the
Church Times
: “The voyage itself … is a remarkable achievement made possible by the skill and courage of the pilot.… As the
Evening Standard
has properly pointed out, ‘her [Amelia’s] presence added no more to the achievement than if the passenger had been a sheep.’ ” In the French newspaper,
Liberté
the public received more criticism than Amelia: “… the palpitating interest of the world in these great adventures comes from the taste for agony and death which all humanity shares, from that dark frenzy which pushed theRomans to watch the bloody spectacles of the arena.” Deeply hurt by these comments the neophyte celebrity kept her feelings to herself and fibbed to reporters, “… from first to last my contact with the press has been thoroughly enjoyable.”
That first day in London Amelia was besieged with invitations, business propositions, requests for autographs, cables of congratulations and even aproposal of marriage from a Kent farmer, “provided she was well off, financially.” By mid-afternoon she was exhausted in spite of aid from Railey and two secretaries. Help arrived in the person of her sponsor, who had decided Amelia was not only a “suitable person” for the flight but charming enough to be a houseguest. Amelia was moved from the hotel to the Guests’ Park Lane mansion, where shopkeepers were summoned to provide her with a wardrobe before she was dispatched in a chauffeured car on a restful, solitaryride around London. The limousine was a seven-passenger Lincoln from Ford of England, “placed at the disposal of Miss Earhart during her stay.” Mr. Ford also sent her a congratulatorytelegram from Detroit. In the ensuing eight days Amelia would be introduced to London society, have tea with Bernard Shaw, and dance with the Prince of Wales. She had entered the world of the rich and famous.
At dinner that night she metLady Mary Heath who had recently flown an AvroAvian, a small, single-engine plane, from Cape Town to London—eight thousand miles. Mary Heath wanted to sell the plane. On June 26 Amelia bought it with credit extended by G. P., who already held Amelia’s contract for a Putnam’s Sons book on the
Friendship
’s flight.
On her second day at the Guests, her hostess took her shopping and introduced her to H. GordonSelfridge, the American owner of a Mayfair department store. It marked the beginning of a continuing friendship with Selfridge and with his daughter, Violette, and her husband, Vicomte Jacques de Sibour, both of whom were avid pilots.
Next to befriend Amelia was one of the most influential women in England,Lady Nancy Astor. The former Nancy Langhorne of Virginia, she was the first woman to become a member of Parliament, a seat she held from 1919 until her retirement in 1945. Nancy Astor was not interested in aviation. She wanted to hear about Amelia’s work at Denison House. Amelia was charmed by this beautiful, witty social activist and advocate of women’s interests. A paradoxical feminist who disapprovedof bobbed hair and bachelor girls, a divorcée before her marriage to Viscount Waldorf Astor, Amelia’s new friend was a staunch supporter of marriage and family. She also sought pensions for women, employment of women on the police force, reform of legitimacy laws, and improved labor conditions for both
On her first morning in London she awakened to an avalanche of editorial praise from American and foreign newspapers. As an aviator she was commended for her “unquenchable determination to go on attempting the hitherto unachieved, no matter how great the dangers” and for her intent “to render service to commercial aviation, not to make a sensation.” As a woman she was acclaimed for “a feat none of her sex had accomplished, though many had attempted it.” She had not failed “to bring home to everyone the fine spirit of audacity shown by her sex in this age.”
Criticism was minimal, the most cutting in the
Church Times
: “The voyage itself … is a remarkable achievement made possible by the skill and courage of the pilot.… As the
Evening Standard
has properly pointed out, ‘her [Amelia’s] presence added no more to the achievement than if the passenger had been a sheep.’ ” In the French newspaper,
Liberté
the public received more criticism than Amelia: “… the palpitating interest of the world in these great adventures comes from the taste for agony and death which all humanity shares, from that dark frenzy which pushed theRomans to watch the bloody spectacles of the arena.” Deeply hurt by these comments the neophyte celebrity kept her feelings to herself and fibbed to reporters, “… from first to last my contact with the press has been thoroughly enjoyable.”
That first day in London Amelia was besieged with invitations, business propositions, requests for autographs, cables of congratulations and even aproposal of marriage from a Kent farmer, “provided she was well off, financially.” By mid-afternoon she was exhausted in spite of aid from Railey and two secretaries. Help arrived in the person of her sponsor, who had decided Amelia was not only a “suitable person” for the flight but charming enough to be a houseguest. Amelia was moved from the hotel to the Guests’ Park Lane mansion, where shopkeepers were summoned to provide her with a wardrobe before she was dispatched in a chauffeured car on a restful, solitaryride around London. The limousine was a seven-passenger Lincoln from Ford of England, “placed at the disposal of Miss Earhart during her stay.” Mr. Ford also sent her a congratulatorytelegram from Detroit. In the ensuing eight days Amelia would be introduced to London society, have tea with Bernard Shaw, and dance with the Prince of Wales. She had entered the world of the rich and famous.
At dinner that night she metLady Mary Heath who had recently flown an AvroAvian, a small, single-engine plane, from Cape Town to London—eight thousand miles. Mary Heath wanted to sell the plane. On June 26 Amelia bought it with credit extended by G. P., who already held Amelia’s contract for a Putnam’s Sons book on the
Friendship
’s flight.
On her second day at the Guests, her hostess took her shopping and introduced her to H. GordonSelfridge, the American owner of a Mayfair department store. It marked the beginning of a continuing friendship with Selfridge and with his daughter, Violette, and her husband, Vicomte Jacques de Sibour, both of whom were avid pilots.
Next to befriend Amelia was one of the most influential women in England,Lady Nancy Astor. The former Nancy Langhorne of Virginia, she was the first woman to become a member of Parliament, a seat she held from 1919 until her retirement in 1945. Nancy Astor was not interested in aviation. She wanted to hear about Amelia’s work at Denison House. Amelia was charmed by this beautiful, witty social activist and advocate of women’s interests. A paradoxical feminist who disapprovedof bobbed hair and bachelor girls, a divorcée before her marriage to Viscount Waldorf Astor, Amelia’s new friend was a staunch supporter of marriage and family. She also sought pensions for women, employment of women on the police force, reform of legitimacy laws, and improved labor conditions for both
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