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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Lady Flyer
The mystique of Amelia Earhart continues unabated 65 years after her likely death. The renowned aviatrix has inspired her share of books and films, the most interesting one being Dorothy Arzner’s bizarre romance Christopher Strong, which starred Katharine Hepburn and appeared in 1933, four years before Earhart’s death. Still, her myth is larger than any cultural artifact it might have inspired. Her considerable accomplishments made her a pioneering heroine, and her disappearance at sea turned her into a legend. (The fact that she was never found is probably owing to the botched rescue operation led by Warner Thompson, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca. Besides searching the wrong area of the ocean, he also made several key errors in unsuccessfully trying to guide Earhart to her scheduled stop on Howland Island, then afterward made a concerted effort to shift the blame onto Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan. John P. Riley Jr. offered a fascinating revisionist analysis of the case based on recently declassified U.S. military documents. (His study, in the August 2000 issue of Naval History, a publication of the U.S. Naval Institute, can be accessed at www.usni.org.)
The latest to use the legend for creative inspiration is Lake Simons, whose new play Paper Plane takes the viewpoint of a 16-year-old girl who follows Earhart’s exploits by listening to the radio. The play receives its world premiere at Hip Pocket Theatre and runs for four performances only.
Paper Plane runs Thu-Sun at Oak Acres Amphitheatre, 1620 Las Vegas Trail N, FW. Tickets are $6-12. Call 817-246-9775.
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