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C. Hope Clark, Editor
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THIRD PLACE - ENTRY FEE CATEGORY - 4th Annual FundsforWriters Contest CALL
ME By Joni M. Fisher I
love it when editors call. Some editors call because they want a woman’s
perspective on my hobby—aviation. Only six percent of pilots are women, so
I’m kind of a novelty. Some editors call for reprints on essays or articles
that made them laugh. Some editors call because they want an article on a topic
a staffer doesn’t have time to write. One call came from an editor
representing a magazine that I’d never written for, nor queried. He explained
that he was preparing the special annual edition of WaterFlying
magazine for the spring and would I consider writing an article on Jack
Brown’s Seaplane Base in Okay,
so this editor called because he needed a writer in I
knew the place well enough to avoid the second pot of coffee of the day. I knew
the people like the Japanese pilots who gathered on the back porch to photograph
alligators and the instructor Rennie who wrote THE
book on seaplane training. The owner, Jon Brown, lived on my block. I knew the
myths and legends and history of the base that was, coincidentally, celebrating
its 40th year of operation. Familiar and newsworthy, this place
taught stick and rudder flying in cloth-covered, slow-moving aircraft. This
place humbled Air Force fighter pilots and thrilled private pilots. Brown’s
Seaplane Base sat on the lakeside edge of the
The editor didn’t care that I had never taken a lesson in a seaplane.
He wanted me to capture the people and the place. Astronauts,
celebrities and foreign pilots learned to fly seaplanes at Brown’s. Commander
Kenneth Bowersox emailed from the International
Space Station to his favorite instructor—at Brown’s. The fraternity of
instructors at Brown’s connects seaplane pilots from around the globe and many
drop in for coffee and storytelling. Brown’s appears in the credits of movies.
On a trip to Who
could call such a fun assignment work? The
gang gave an odd mix of reactions when interviewed since they knew me as a pilot
and friend instead of as a writer. Somewhere between “spell my name right”
and “is this on the record?” they shared their passion for the base. The
instructors described the “Armstrong” starter on the J3-Cub as I dutifully
jotted notes. It was only later when I saw them hand-prop the cub that I knew
I’d been set up. The dears. These are the same guys
who tried to explain to me the tradition of cutting out the back of a shirt when
someone solos. For women, they said straight-faced, they cut out the front. After
the article appeared in WaterFlying
magazine the gang at Brown’s gave me their sign of approval—they asked when
the next article would be published. They, too, liked seeing their names in
print (anywhere but the Post Office). I queried Pipers
magazine because the seaplane base relied on Piper aircraft for 40 years of
training. Pipers
paid $100 for the reprint. With guilty pleasure, I cashed the checks. Since
these articles were published, hurricanes Joni M. Fisher - jmfisher@tampabay.rr.com |
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