From the Back Cover:
Sharpie was a very special person, and I am absolutely fascinated with her life. Although the book reads like fiction, the writing is a masterful work of historical research. Diane Armour Bartels has insightfully captured the love, warmth and spirit which epitomize my very good friend. Teresa James, Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. The residents of Valley County, Nebraska, have waited some fifty years for a writer to pen the biography of their hometown heroine. Their dream is at last a reality. Bartels has honestly and eloquently portrayed the human history of a place, its people, and a time. (Heloise Christensen Bresley, Valley County Historical Society)
About the Author:
Diane Ruth Armour Bartels does not ever remember a time in her life when she did not want to fly. As a young girl growing up on a farm in northeast Nebraska, she experienced her first flight when local pilots took up farmers in order to survey conservation practices in the county. In the 1950s. the Signature Book Series introduced her to a world where women made a difference. The first biography her mother gave her was entitled The Story of Amelia Earhart. Diane read and reread it, absolutely fascinated that a young girl from Atchison, Kansas, could grow up to be a world famous pilot. Diane wanted to be just like her. Graduating as the University of Nebraska's Outstanding Senior Woman in 1964, Diane earned her private pilot license on August 12, 1966, after two months of flight training. She joined the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots whose first president was Amelia Earhart. In 1975, Diane flew the 27th All Women's Transcontinental Air Race from Carlsbad, California, to Elmira-Corning, New York. Diane's interest in preserving aviation history has led to dedicatory plaques and community tributes in honor or memory of Amelia Earhart; Tuskegee Airmen, Paul Adams, Lt. Col, (Retired); Belle Hetzel, International Ninety-Nines President and aerospace education leader; and Evelyn Sharp, Nebraska's Queen of the Sky. Diane's writing has appeared in several historical aviation publications. In 1991, Diane was selected by The National Endowment for the Humanities as Nebraska's Teacher-Scholar. The award, made possible by the Dewitt-Wallace Trust Fund, carried with it a one year sabbatical and a commitment to begin the research on the life story of Evelyn Sharp. In 1997, Diane was inducted into the Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kansas, for her contributions in preserving the history of aviation and space. The following year, her peers in the US Air Force Association named her Outstanding Aerospace Educator. An educator by profession, Diane is currently a fifth grade teacher at Brownell Elementary in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is the recipient of the Lincoln Public Schools Foundation Gold Star Award, a Cablevision Award winner, and was recently presented an honorary PTA Life Membership. She makes extensive use of biography in the classroom and serves as an aviation resource and certified FAA ground school instructor in the community. A lifelong resident of Nebraska, Diane has and will continue her commitment toward the research and preservation of Nebraska's rich aviation heritage.
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