How Amelia Earhart Became a Legend

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This Saturday, One Grand Books marks its 10th anniversary with a special salon featuring award-winning journalist and author Laurie Gwen Shapiro. Shapiro will discuss her latest book, The Aviator and the Showman, which explores the pioneering partnership between aviator Amelia Earhart and publishing impresario George Putnam.

In her biography, Shapiro examines how Earhart’s collaboration with Putnam—who was both her husband and her promoter—helped shape her into one of the most enduring cultural icons of the 20th century. Through extensive archival research, including previously unheard recordings and private family collections, Shapiro uncovers the complex dynamics behind Earhart’s rise to fame and the media machine that crafted her public image.

“I always thought she’s a hero—and I want to say up front that after I finished five years of working on this book, I still think she’s a hero,” Shapiro told Radio Catskill. “But I think that the truth of how she rose to fame is very complicated, and you do not get a million-dollar reputation without George Palmer Putnam, who was her lover and then her husband who shaped her career, and perhaps together they were responsible for her death.”

Shapiro highlighted Putnam’s role in promoting Earhart as a national and international figure, noting that much of her early fame was orchestrated through media coverage, public appearances, and strategic publicity campaigns. She also discussed how the enduring myth of Earhart was influenced by societal expectations of women and the celebrity culture of the 1920s and 1930s.

“She was a national hit and then an international hit before she even landed across the Atlantic. I mean, the promotion machine was ginormous. It was the era of hullabaloo,” Shapiro said.

The salon takes place at 4 p.m. Saturday, September 6, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Narrowsburg, New York. Admission is free.

More information about about Laurie Gwen Shapiro and her work can be found at lauriegwenshapiro.com.

Image: Amelia Earhart, pioneering aviator. (Public Domain)