SKYBOUND

A daring woman soared into history.

From childhood, Mary Myers (nee Hawley, 1850-1932) dreamed of flying, something women of her era weren’t supposed to contemplate, let alone accomplish. In adulthood, she found a way to escape her earthly bonds: ballooning, a new fad “that sailed in from France and captivated America.” At age 21, Mary married photographer, inventor, engineer, and scientist Carl Myers, a ballooning enthusiast himself. Carl was interested in researching weather conditions in the skies; Mary read up on meteorology and aeronautics. Together, they designed and built better balloons. What they needed was someone to record scientific/weather data while flying and to dazzle crowds who paid to witness flying exhibitions. Mary volunteered and adopted “Carlotta” as her stage name. It rained the day of her first solo flight—July 5, 1880. Carlotta had promised to take her balloon one mile up and stay aloft for five miles or 30 minutes. She received 10 minutes of training to learn how to avoid crashing into tall standing objects, to land safely, and to make her balloon rise or fall, as necessary. The event was a rousing success: Carlotta recorded abundant weather statistics and flew higher, farther, and longer than expected. Loaded with information, this meticulously researched tale about one high-flying woman’s exploits will captivate readers; quotes from Mary/Carlotta are incorporated. The crisp ink illustrations are superb, beautifully capturing period details and settings; note some eye-popping typesetting creativity.

This fascinating book flies high and definitely rises to the occasion.