Laurie Gwen Shapiro with Corey S. Powell: The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker and journalist Laurie Gwen Shapiro joins us to discuss her New York Times Editors' Choice book, The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon, with award-winning science writer Corey S. Powell.

This event will take place in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor.

In 1928, a young social worker and hobby pilot named Amelia Earhart arrived in the office of George Putnam, heir to the Putnam & Sons throne and hitmaker, on the hunt for the right woman for a secret flying mission across the Atlantic. A partnership—professional and soon otherwise—was born.

The Aviator and the Showman unveils the untold story of Amelia's decade-long marriage to George Putnam, offering an intimate exploration of their relationship and the pivotal role it played in her enduring legacy. Despite her outwardly modest and humble image, Amelia was fiercely driven and impossibly brave, a lifelong feminist and trailblazer in her personal and professional life. Putnam, the so-called “PT Barnum of publishing” was a bookselling visionary—but often pushed his authors to extreme lengths in the name of publicity, and no one bore that weight more than Amelia. Their ahead-of-its time partnership supported her grand ambitions—but also pressed her into more and more treacherous stunts to promote her books, influencing a certain recklessness up to and including her final flight.

Earhart is a captivating figure to many, but the truth about her life is often overshadowed by myth and legend. In this cinematic new account, Laurie Gwen Shapiro emphasizes Earhart’s multifaceted human side, her struggles, and her authentic aspirations, the truths behind her brave pursuits and the compromises she made to fit into societal expectations. Drawing from a trove of new sources including undiscovered audio interviews, The Aviator and the Showman is a gripping and passionate tale of adventure, colorful characters, hubris, and a complex and a vivid portrait of a marriage that shaped the trajectory of an iconic life.

To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Laurie Gwen Shapiro is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist whose writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York, The Daily Beast, Slate, and others. Shapiro is the 2021 winner of the Damn History Article Award for her New Yorker piece “The Improbable Journey of Dorothy Parker’s Ashes” and a gold medallion winner in the People Profiles category for the Silurians Press Club’s seventy-seventh annual Excellence in Journalism Awards. She is the author of The Stowaway, a bestseller and an Indie Next selection. She is an adjunct professor at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute in the graduate program.

Corey S. Powell is an award-winning science writer, editor, and communicator. He is the former editor-in-chief of Discover and American Scientist magazines, and a regular contributor to Aeon and IEEE Spectrum. In his science outreach he has collaborated with Bill Nye on four books (Undeniable, Unstoppable, Everything All at Once, and the upcoming Picture Guide to the Cosmos), two TV shows (Bill Nye Saves the World and The End is Nye), and the Science Rules podcast. During the pandemic he co-founded OpenMind, a Pulitzer-supported magazine that addresses science controversies and misinformation. He is currently writes a column, "Invisible Universe", about the layers of reality beyond human perception, and is working on a book of the same name due to be published by HarperOne. Corey pops up all over science social media as @coreyspowell.

Books by the Author

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog


• E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android


• This event will also include signing and sales of the book by our Library Shop.

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ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

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Please submit all press inquiries to Connor Goodwin at least 48 hours before the event: email connorgoodwin@nypl.org.
 

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All programs are subject to change or cancellation. All programs are subject to recording and photography.

The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).