The People You meet in First Class is a compilation of over forty years as an airline traveler in both Coach and First Class beginning in 1974. The stories provide unembellished observations in the airport and on the plane as well as some insight into deep conversations that occurred between the author and other travelers and airline employees. Through observation and a willingness to engage with total strangers, Eric Pearson experience unexpected conversations, insights into the lives and troubles of perfect strangers and often shared ideas and solutions creating life changing conversations. Eric is a motivational speaker and storyteller who magically brings to life these conversations such that the reader feels they are sitting in the plane listening to the conversations. The stories are funny, interesting, some quite deep and Eric is careful to keep the tome as lighthearted as possible as he shares his thoughts and experiences. As the airline industry changed over the years, the stories and the people remain the same.
Eric Pearson has pursued many journeys during his life and along the way earned a Bachelors Degree in Education and a Masters Degree in Engineering through any years of overcoming failure while championing the growth and development of others through teaching and coaching, to developing and leading experiential leadership programs at the Sector and Corporate level. Eric began his writing upon the passing of his fourteen year old son, Ryan in 2004. Ryan was born profoundly disabled and not expected live more than two years. Upon Ryan's death, as his grieving process, Eric wrote and self-published Ryan'S Stories - God;s Perfect Child to share the wonderful experiences as well as to help others who have lost family members with their own grieving process. With The People You Meet in First Class, Eric continues to share true stories of the effects random conversations and observations had on his life and others as he traveled for business and pleasure from 1974 through 2014. Eric continues to write, volunteer and serve on university boards and serve the community as a motivational speaker in retirement while taking time to play golf and pursue new passions.