LEBOW, Eileen F. 1925-

PERSONAL: Born May 30, 1925, in Ancon, Canal Zone, Panama; daughter of Frank (a clerical supervisor) and Mary (a nurse; maiden name, Hannick) Fitzpatrick; married Morton A. Lebow (a writer), October 6, 1951; children: K. Ellen Lebow Gaskill, Sarah J. Lebow Tolson, Edward G. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1947, M.A., 1949. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home—2821 29th St. NW, Washington, DC 20008.

CAREER: Secondary school teacher in Montgomery County, MD, c. 1964-94.

WRITINGS:

Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz: The First Transcontinental Flight, Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, DC), 1989.

A Grandstand Seat: The American Balloon Service in World War I, Praeger (Westport, CT), 1998.

The Bright Boys: A History of Townsend Harris High School, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 2000.

Before Amelia: Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation, Brassey (Dulles, VA), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Eileen F. Lebow's Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz: The First Transcontinental Flight, tells how, in 1911, Calbraith "Cal" Perry Rodgers took on William Randolph Hearst's offer of $50,000 to the first person to complete a coast-to-coast flight across America in thirty days. After receiving financial support from J. Ogden Armour Company by agreeing to paint the name of their "Vin Fiz" soda on the wings and tail of his airplane, Rodgers left Long Island, New York, for Pasadena, California, arriving on November 5, 1911, after forty-nine days. Although he did not win the prize money, he earned the honor of being the first person to go the distance. His restored "Vin Fiz" now hangs in the National Air and Space Museum. Lebow told CA: "I was especially interested in the personality of Cal Rodgers—what made him tick and how he fitted into the 1911 scene. I hoped to give the modern reader a clear picture of aviation's early days, when just going up was an adventure and coming down was 'a sometime thing.'"

Lebow's next book, A Grandstand Seat: The American Balloon Service in World War I, tells of the little-known and much neglected service that gathered important intelligence information and helped direct artillery strikes against enemy troops. Germany was already using observational balloons in combat by August, 1914, and the allies knew they needed to develop a similar strategy. By the time the United States entered the war in 1917, the U.S. Balloon Service was a disciplined and valuable part of combat. Lebow's book is based on extensive research and information gleaned first-hand from brave men who flew the "gas bags" behind enemy lines, jumping for their lives when fired upon.

In The Bright Boys: A History of Townsend Harris High School, Lebow traces the history of Townsend Harris High School in Manhattan from its 1849 opening to its closing by Mayor LaGuardia in 1942. Named for the man who fought to bring free higher education to New York City, Townsend Harris put its students through a rigorous and difficult three-year course to prepare them for success at City College where graduates from the city's high schools could attend free of charge. Students at Townsend Harris either accomplished the high standards expected of them, or quit. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Jonas Salk, Ira Gershwin, three future Nobel Prize winners, and other well-known achievers traveled from five different boroughs in New York to graduate from the school. Lebow recounts the school's story from the perspectives of students, teachers, administrators, and politicians.

Before Amelia: Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation fills a void in the recorded history of flight, focusing on pre-World War I women pioneers in aviation. Here, Lebow profiles women from all over the world who bravely took to the air in those very early days, recounting their achievements and how they influenced each other. Beginning with Raymonde de Laroche of France who, in 1909 became the first woman to receive her pilot's license, Lebow describes how—in an era when professional options for women were severely limited—these pioneering aviators faced rigid gender stereotypes. The Wright Brothers, for example, would not sell airplanes to women, believing they lacked the "coolness of judgment" required to fly. Lebow describes how they courageously faced danger and death in the unsophisticated aircraft of the day to achieve their dreams. "Alas, that World War I and its plethora of higher-tech planes and male pilots befell these unsung pioneers," commented Roland Green in Booklist. Charles Cowling wrote in a review of Before Amelia for Library Journal that Lebow is a talented writer with a special talent for "doing historical research and then bringing it to life."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Air Power History, winter, 1999, review of A Grandstand Seat: The American Balloon Service in World War I, p. 54.

Booklist, August, 2002, Roland Green, review of Before Amelia: Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation, p. 1903.

Library Journal, July, 2002, Charles Cowling, review of Before Amelia, p. 97.

New York Times Book Review, December 31, 1989, review of Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz: The First Transcontinental Flight, p. 6.

Reference and Research Book News, February, 2001, review of The Bright Boys: A History of Townsend Harris High School, p. 156.