Tricia Aurand – författare

In October 1944 Nadine Ramsey was thirty-three and she was flying the cutting-edge P-51 Mustang to New Jersey, its last stop before heading to the war in Europe. The irrepressible young woman from Wichita had long been determined to fly and the gathering storm clouds of World War II had provided an unexpected opportunity. Taking Flight is the inspiring story of a girl from Depression-era Kansas who overcame tremendous challenges and defied convention to become an elite pilot—one of the few American women to fly fighter aircraft during World War II.Taking Flight follows Nadine as she became one of 1,102 women to join the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots and one of only 303 WASPs to take to the skies in military cockpits, transporting aircraft to bases across the nation for use in the theaters of war. This book marks her milestones: the first Kansas woman to earn a commercial pilot license; among the earliest women to fly the US Air Mail; one of only 26 WASPs who flew the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, a fighter aircraft—and the first woman to own one; the only woman in the country to instruct male pilots to fly fighter planes after the war. Disbanded in late 1944 to make way for male pilots and barred from piloting for commercial airlines, the WASPs spent the next three decades fighting to win veteran status.Taking Flight: The Nadine Ramsey Story is a profile in courage of a woman who helped clear the flight path for today’s female combat and commercial aviators.

One woman’s explosive true story about her romance with President John F. Kennedy, her role as his liaison to the criminal underworld, and the terrible aftermath that followed.A Dangerous Beauty reveals the harrowing story of the woman at the center of one of America’s greatest political scandals. In 1960, Hollywood socialite Judith Campbell Exner was introduced to Senator John F. Kennedy in the throes of his run for president. Their secret romance soon entangled her with one of the most dangerous men in America—Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, along with his associate, the sharply dressed “Handsome Johnny” Rosselli. What began as her passion for JFK, quickly became her peril. At Kennedy’s request, Judith became the secret link between him and the Mafia, carrying money and messages—first to help JFK’s presidential campaign, and then to monitor the mob’s progress in their CIA-sponsored attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro at the height of the Cold War. In the decades since, Exner’s claims have been dismissed, her reputation attacked by the press, and her true story buried beneath the myth of Camelot. Now, former federal attorney Mark Allen and award-winning writer Tricia Aurand have sorted through the mountain of misinformation that has hidden the facts, drawing on decades of research, original interviews, and newly released government records. A Dangerous Beauty pieces the puzzle together by revealing Exner to be a significant part of JFK’s presidency and by refuting the lies that have relegated her to a shameful footnote from the time. More than a hidden chapter in American history, this is the story of a woman who lived with secrets that could have toppled a presidency and ended a political dynasty—a woman who paid the price for both withholding and then telling the truth. Now, her voice can be heard.