Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was born on June 22, 1906, in Englewood, New Jersey. Anne's father, an executive at a large bank, often took the whole family with him on business trips to Europe. These trips to London, Paris, and Milan were a great learning experience to his children , especially Anne , because her father described the exciting history of each of the cities they visited.


Anne's mother, a teacher and writer, encouraged Anne and her siblings to write stories and poems about their adventures , something we should be encouraging our children to do .


When Anne was 10 years old, she began writing her thoughts in a diary. Her favorite place to write was a window seat overlooking the garden. She would curl up and enjoy the view that consisted of flowers and trees while she wrote. Anne hoped that someday she could write stories that would be of interest to other people.


In school, Anne was shy young girl. She liked reading and writing, but she wasnt so fond of playing sports. When she went to college, she studied English and worked hard writing and rewriting her essays. Young Anne was very excited when one of her poems was published in a well-known magazine.


While Anne was in college, her father invited Charles Lindbergh, the famous pilot, and his mother to join the Morrow family for the Christmas holidays. During this visit, Charles took Anne and her sisters up for their first airplane ride. Anne was so excited by this new experience. When she returned to college after Christmas, she began to learn all she could about flying. It wasn't long at all before Anne and Charles became friends and started flying together.


When Anne graduated from college, she received two prizes for her writing. She felt very honored and pleased that her work was valued by her teachers. Later that year, Anne and Charles were married. They went on many flying adventures together , Anne gaining a lot of knowledge and experience from it all .

Anne loved her New World of flying and soon was learning all about airplane navigation and how to operate the communications radio. With much practice and patience, Anne became extraordinary at both of these skills. Anne also became the first woman in the United States to receive a license to fly a glider airplane.



Working as a team, Anne and Charles flew to many faraway places looking for the best routes for airlines to use. They recorded information about weather patterns and landing conditions, and had many exciting adventures along the way. Between trips, Anne wrote her first book, North to the Orient. This book is about a trip Anne and Charles took to China, looking for routes for airlines to use. On this trip, they flew over the frozen arctic region, where no people live. They wore electric flight suits to keep warm, and saw huge icebergs as they flew over the ocean , what a wonderful experience that must have been , many of us are never going to experience such wonders , all we can do is share the wonderful stories of the women who have accomplished it .


Anne's second book, Listen! the Wind, describes the thrilling adventure of flying through tropical storms and blizzards while searching for the best route to Europe. Anne's contributions as copilot and radio operator on this trip were tremendous. For this achievement, she was awarded the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Gold Medal for distinction in exploration, research, and discovery. Anne was the first woman ever to receive this medal.


Traveling by plane gave Anne a good view of the environment around us all and the damage that was being inflicted on our environment. Anne began to notice changes taking place in the many lands , forests and lakes. These changes were not positive. Anne became very concerned about pollution and its effects on the environment. To help protect and preserve our beautiful lands, she wrote a book called Earth Shine.


Anne continued to fly and to write many more wonderful books. Her writing has helped to inspire and teach many people about the beauty and excitement of flying. The hope she had as a child of writing something meaningful had come true.

Vicky WAU Ireland