WestportReads, the community reading project organized by the Westport Public Library, has selected “I Was Amelia Earhart,” a novel by Jane Mendelsohn as its theme book for 2012.
A series of programs by the library centered on the famed aviator, whose disappearance over the Pacific in 1937 as she attempted to complete around-the-world journey, including a Jan. 11 lecture by Mendelsohn. Her book imagines how Earhart’s life — and the continuing fascination with her disappearance — might have been explained by the aviator herself.
Here’s how the library describes the book: “In this lyrical novel, Amelia Earhart returns to life to tell about her childhood, her marriage, her public life, and her eventual fate. She and her navigator find themselves marooned on a tiny island and lost to the world. Neither of them knew Morse code, so they had left their telegraph code key transmitter behind. Earhart had also lost the trailing antenna for her direction finder.
“Investigator Ric Gillespie’s claim to have found evidence that Earhart and her navigator Noonan had landed on an island called Nikumaroro 350 miles south of their intended destination inspired Jane Mendelsohn to write the book.”
In addition to Mendelsohn’s January lecture, the library plans a series of events — films, discussions, appearances by other writers and even an XBox flight simulation for teens — all related to Earhart, aviation and flight during January. Find the complete list HERE.
