The Barnstormer and the Lady: Aviation Legends Walter & Olive Ann Beech

15th Anniversary Edition Hardcover by Dennis Farney. Updated by Jennifer Pitt, granddaughter of Walter and Olive Ann Beech.

This is the story of Walter and Olive Ann Beech, the remarkable couple whose careers spanned virtually the entire history of American aviation. It is also the story of a marriage of opposites. Walter was a charming rascal, a hard-living barnstormer. Olive Ann was a shy small-town Kansas girl who hid that shyness behind an imperious manner and a backbone of steel.

Together they founded Beech Aircraft Corporation in the depths of the Great Depression and guided their company to fame and fortune. Their lives intersected with the giants of aviation: Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, and many others. Their customers ranged from Arthur Godfrey to Lyndon B. Johnson, from Hollywood stars to Pentagon generals.

Their company did much to transform Wichita, Kansas from a dusty cow town to today’s Aircraft Capital of the World.