Customer Reviews

Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jackie Cochran was a personal hero of mine before I even read this book. Despite some grammar errors (Jackie never claimed to be a professional writer) Ms. Cochran's outstanding personality shines through every page. As a pilot and a woman, I loved reading about Jackie's adventures in the air. She led an amazing life and had incredible courage and abilities. I would recommend this book to anyone, of any age, who likes to read about real heroes.

I don't know about everybody else, but when I pick up an autobiography, I want the truth. If I want fiction, I pick up a fiction. Knowing what I do about aviation and its history and yes, even mechanics, I started having some doubts about whether this was a true story or not and came online to do my research. My suspicions proved true. As a fellow reviewer already stated, Jackie's childhood is fabricated. She was not really an orphan, but was born Bessie Lee Pittman with two parents. She did, indeed, grow up on mills in Florida but apparently, her food and clothing situations were greatly exagerated. She did not wear a flour sack or starve. Seeing as her entire childhood is fabricated in order to I suppose, gain public sympathy, I don't doubt that some of her accomplishments may be somewhat exagerated as well.. Are we really supposed to believe that a woman that didn't make it thru the second grade managed to solo fly and dead stick land a plane a mere 48 hours after first sitting in one? Not to mention, she manages to fly to Canada without even knowing what a compass is. If this is true, I hope the school that issued her license has since been shut down. Scary to think there may be pilots up there that don't know what they're doing!

I won't deny this was an amazing woman that set a lot of records and paved the way for other women in aviation, but I want an honest account of her life, not just a good story.

Also something I am curious about is how she managed to conveniently leave out the fact she was married once before Floyd (to a man named Robert Cochran.. that is how she got the name, not from a phone book) and had a 5 year old son that burned himself to death in her backyard. I think that is something that belongs in one's autobiography.

I made to page 100 and felt like I was reading mythology.

Readers should know that Lt. Col. Jacqueline Cochran made up her entire early life, presumably to get ahead, which she certainly did. She was able to keep this secret until after her death. Do look it up; aviation historians have known it for some years.
Apart from that, this is an absolutely terrific read, both for aviation and biographical reasons. Cochran was a ferocious competitor who reputedly cussed a blue streak contrail after her. Knowing the truth about her adds a certain ghoulish quality to this book as you read it.

During a newspaper interview with Gen. Chuck Yeager in 1989 in San Diego, I asked him about this book, which had just come out a couple years earlier. He told me that Jackie Cochran had nothing to do with this purported autobiography. Cochran had died in 1980, and this book came out in 1987. Yeager - who was a close friend of Cochran and ranks her as one of the best pilots who ever lived - said she didn't leave a manuscript, nor a journal nor a diary. I asked him point-blank if the book was a lie, and he gave me a look and said, "Just think about what I said." This book was likely an assemblage of Cochran's quotes from magazine and newspaper interviews she gave through the years, and I have no reason to believe that the words are not her own. But to package it as an "autobiography" seems to me a bit of a stretch.

My mom had this book several years ago and loaned it to someone. She never got it back. Recently she wanted to give a copy of this book to another young lady that put herself through college, struggling all the way. This lady faced many difficults through the years but stayed focused on her dream.
This book arrivied to us in perfect condition. My mom gave her the book yesterday, and the lady told her that she got hired the day before. She will be a history teacher at a local school. Mom said it was a beautiful moment as both stood there in tears.
I would definately buy from this seller again. Be blessed.

The book was listed as "good" condition, but smelled of cigarette smoke and had some staining (coffee??) But it did arrive on time.

I very much enjoyed the combination of personal story and reflections of peers and friends presented in this book. It is both insightful into the life of an amazing woman and an amazing historical time in US History. I recommend this read to anyone interested in aviation history or women's history.