An old friend visited my mother-in-law when my father-in-law died. While I served tea, they chatted, and in the course of the conversation, the visitor told us she was at Kitty Hawk for the initial flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903. I was amazed at her enthusiasm and remembrance because she would have been a child when it occurred.
I recall that memory often, especially when I read David McCullough’s “The Wright Brothers.”
They were low-key bicycle mechanics and shop owners from Dayton, Ohio. The brothers’ determination to fly, perseverance in the face of failure, ridicule, and lack of interest by their countrymen is astounding. After many failed attempts and disbelief and disinterest by those around them, the two brothers, Wilbur, an acclaimed genius, and Orville, who had the personality for ingenious mechanics and promoting of their product, did it.
It took many experiments on their part and they were often ignored by the media, but press on they did, backed by a strong family that included two older brothers, a devoted sister and their minister father, Bishop Milton Wright. Their mother had died early. The inventors carefully studied the terrain of the country before settling on North Carolina’s legendary Outer Banks with its soft sand and ideal winds.
Much of the book was technical, but any student of aviation or history will be enthralled. What a lesson in determination these two pioneers exhibited. Read it.
◆◆◆
In Kelli Estes’ “The Girl Who Wrote in Silk,” while exploring her deceased aunt’s island estate, Inara Erickson accidentally discovers a piece of embroidered fabric in the steps of the house. As she peels back each layer of the fabric, her life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lien, a Chinese girl mysteriously driven from her home a century before.
When my book club discussed it, they were divided on their opinion of which they preferred: the current story or the one of the past. They had a lively discussion of the plot, which involves two women who are determined to do the right thing. The story is also a powerful plug for the importance of telling or recording our own stories.
As Inara is forced to make an impossible choice, her family suffers. It is a poignant story, well worth the read.