Update: I have a new title for my book proposal that I think captures the essence of my biography about Dusty Roads much better than the other titles. It’s DUSTY ROADS—THE JOURNEY THAT CHANGED AMERICA’S AIRLINE CULTURE. I thought of it as I rewrote my book proposal last month. I realize the title could change again in the future, but for now, this is how I will be marketing the title to agents. Tell me what you think by sending me an email via the form on my “Contact” page. Thanks!

 

 

Yes, I have worked hard for the past two years and have made substantial progress accumulating and organizing all the information I need to continue writing the book. I even changed the title, taking Gloria Steinem’s advice to heart when I met with her last year.

On October 23rd, I finished transcribing the Dusty Roads and Jean Montague interviews. It was important to me that I do this work myself so I could capture the inflections, tones, and emotion in their voices as they were speaking about their experiences as flight attendants. I also annotated each interview on what facts and details need further corroboration.

These notes will help during my research visits to the Library of Congress (LOC), the EEOC, the FAA, Cleveland Recorder’s Office, Gates Mills History Museum, and the APFA union archives in Dallas. The LOC Women’s Studies Dept. mentioned that all the information I need there is still on microfiche! That ought to be a blast to the past when I get there.

There were over 150 hours of 85 interviews to transcribe. Hardcopies of the over 550 pages now reside in two 3-inch binders in my office, and the MS-Word files and recordings are on multiple backups. I have more material than I probably need but that sure is better than not enough. As frustrated as I was at how long it was taking, I now know it was worth every minute I spent which was about 2 to 3 hours per interview.

By New Year’s Day 2020, I accomplished another major milestone. I finished indexing 598 topics of varying lengths, covered in the interviews I had with Dusty and Jean. Now I can look up any topic on her life by interview number and page number on my computer or in the printouts. Reading and annotating every interview to create the index was some of the most tedious work I’ve ever done but, it will serve as a handy guide to her life. Now, I’m culling, cutting, and pasting the information into the Chapter structure of the book—and I even added a new Chapter.

Biography, as a genre, is not for the faint of heart as it takes a long time to interview, research, and write with historical accuracy. Read Robert Caro’s “Working” to get an idea of what it takes. It took over four years to get all the information I needed from Dusty and Jean. But that was just the beginning. I wish I realized that sooner. So, I know I am doing the right thing in taking my time with all the details and minutia. I’m excited I finished creating such a valuable historical archive on Dusty’s life as a flight attendant, labor rights leader, and legislative lobbyist.

Now, I can move forward on writing and rewriting what I’ve already written, including query letters and the book proposal to send to interested literary agents. It was the right thing to do to stop hunting for an agent until I had all this done. It won’t be until after my editor edits what I’m writing now, though, that I’ll be looking again. Stay tuned for more on that and my plans for pre-publicity soon.

Dusty, Jean and I just got back from a month-long vacation in Oregon.  As I returned to work on her biography today I discovered that Makers featured Dusty on Facebook and Twitter as one of their “Bold and Untold” women who changed history. This has invigorated me to continue looking for the right literary agent to represent me. I’m looking for someone who understands that her accomplishments are relevant and inspiring to today’s women looking for a shining example of how to fight for their workplace rights and why unions can be supportive and helpful to do so. Her story clearly isn’t “untold” but needs repeating. Whenever and wherever I travel to talk about her, I am always greeted, especially by younger women, with comments like “why haven’t we heard about this before?” That’s because someone out there needs to help us publish her story and shout it out loud and clear. Her story is a part of women’s history. It simply needs to be told again and documented so it is never forgotten and her historic struggles will never need to be repeated by other women today or in the future. Check out the video that Makers posted:

 

I am thrilled to announce that the National Women’s History Project chose Dusty Roads as one of their 2017 Honorees for National Women’s History Month in March! The theme for 2017 is “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business.” She is one of 10 women in the country selected for their “extraordinary contributions and trailblazing efforts in labor and/or business.” It was incredibly difficult for me to keep her nomination a surprise but it was well worth it to see the joy of acknowledgment on her face when she read the congratulatory letter from the NWHP. Dusty, Jean and I are looking forward to the official celebration next year in Washington, D.C.!  Best of all, Dusty’s rightful place in history is now assured.