Information for Our Alumnae:
Alumna Norah O'Neill, Author of Flying Tigress
Alumna Norah O’Neill’s memoir Flying Tigress (1995) is the story of the first woman pilot hired by Flying Tigers, the macho, globe-straddling, cargo airline started by World War II flying aces. Armed with a quick wit and a passion for flying, Norah O’Neill dared to cross their cockpit threshold and wage a battle for acceptance. Bravely honest, wise and funny, Flying Tigress is human drama played out against the breathtaking backdrop of the sky. Visit www.norahoneill.com for more information.
Captain Jean E. Harper Reviews Flying Tigress:
In her own lyrically beautiful and amusingly blunt words, [Norah] brings to life a stranger-than-fiction story of the adventurous path she took to the traditionally male domain of jet airliner cockpits. Wanting only a fair shot at the ultimate career in aviation, the tall, attractive redhead encountered both harsh resistance and touching support as she broke the gender barrier in an environment—and an era—when political correctness was still years away.
As a female aviator with a passionate love for flying, Norah found herself in the undesirable role of a 'lightning rod' for heated opinions. Because of the groundbreaking nature of her employment, she bore an inordinate amount of scrutiny and notoriety...not all of it pleasant.
Her happiest times were in the easy camaraderie that exists between crewmembers whose home is the sky, for whom there is no greater adventure or profession than international travel with one's own hands wrapped eagerly around the controls of a wide body jet. O'Neill's persistence and ability to do the job eventually won over her skeptics, clearing the way for like-minded women who followed.
She pulls no punches on either her tormentors or herself, relating with humor and candor the uplifting, bizarre and even devastating experiences that were all a part of her colorful and unconventional life. Norah O'Neill is as skilled a writer as she is a pilot, bringing the reader along on a breathtaking ride through hellish lows, exhilarating highs and astonishing adventures.
"Flying Tigress" is grandly entertaining; it captures the interest of male and female aviation enthusiasts alike. It also opens a window of understanding that shows men and women as both vulnerable and strong, deeply loving and humanly imperfect—with the inevitable conclusion that we're not really so different after all.
--Captain Jean E. Harper