20 HRS. 40 MINS – Stream

Amelia Earhart was the first woman in history to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from America to Europe. The 1928 flight in the tri-motor airship “Friendship” made her world famous and began her public career in aviation. When Earhart returned to the United States, she was treated as a national hero, given a ticker tape parade in New York City and met the President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. She was referred to as the “Queen of the Air” and “Lady Lindy” comparing her to Charles Lindberg, the first man to fly across the Atlantic a year earlier. In “20 Hrs 40 Mins”, her first book, Earhart describes her beginning interest in becoming a pilot, and how her interest grew with the development of aeronautics after the First World War. Amelia Earhart talks about her life as social worker at Denison House in Boston. She explains how she was selected to join the historic flight of “The Friendship.” She presents portions of her actual logbook, with her observations written during the flight. Amelia Earhart paints a word picture of the state of the 1928 air industry. She documents the growth and safety of air travel. She discusses the attitude of men toward women pilots. She champions careers in aviation for women and gender equality in the workplace.

Read by Leslie Walden

Leslie Walden is a Los Angeles based actress. This is her second audiobook for Listen 2 Read. She can also be heard in “Camps and Trails in Old China.”