Cover Copy
“Teach me to fly,” I said softly, still gazing out my side window.
“Huh?” Scott asked, unsure that he’d heard me correctly.
“I mean…I…” Startled, I realized what I’d said. “I mean, it’s so beautiful—it’s just…” I didn’t have the words.
“I know,” he said almost reverently. “It is.”
We were quiet for a little while, looking out over the sparkling Atlantic. The day couldn’t have been more perfect. And because it was only about eleven in the morning, the sun was not yet overhead. It created a golden fan of color on the turquoise water below. I thought that if I died right then, I would have had a preview of Heaven even before taking my last breath.
Also by Janie DeVos
Beneath a Thousand Apple Trees
The Art of Breathing
The Glory Land series
A Corner in Glory Land
The Rising of Glory Land
Table of Contents
Cover Copy
Also by Janie DeVos
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Epilogue
Teaser Chapter
About the Author
The River to Glory Land
Janie DeVos
LYRICAL PRESS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.
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Copyright © 2018 by Janie DeVos
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Lyrical Press and Lyrical Press logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
First Electronic Edition: December 2018
eISBN-13: 978-1-5161-0436-9
eISBN-10: 1-5161-0436-6
First Print Edition: December 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1-5161-0437-6
ISBN-10: 1-5161-0437-4
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication
For my aunt, Jane Tarilton Lewis;
A true Miami golden girl.
Acknowledgments
As I began the research for my book, life intervened with a wonderful twist of fate. I discovered that Jo Ann Bass, granddaughter of the founders of the iconic Miami restaurant Joe’s Stone Crabs, lives just twenty minutes from me during the summer months, which is the off-season of the restaurant (one can only buy stone crabs in a month with an R in it.). Jo graciously invited me to lunch at her gorgeous home, which is actually a 100-year-old converted barn. We sat in her kitchen eating chicken salad, and she regaled me with stories of her grandparents in the 1920s. One story involved her grandmother chasing Al Capone’s girlfriend out of the restaurant. Her grandmother liked Al’s wife. Sitting with Jo has been one of the highlights of my years of research. I’d like to thank this most beautiful and elegant lady for the memories; those that she shared with me, as well the ones that she and I created together. I will cherish that afternoon always.
And many thanks to Jack Riley, FAA Certified Aviation Instructor and friend, who didn’t just explain the basics of flying to me, but took me up in his plane so that I could experience them. As we soared over the Blue Ridge Mountains and through the gorges, I thought a lot about the courageous pioneers in the field of flight. Even with all of the instruments available to pilots today, the simple act of flying remains an amazing feat to me. Having said that, flying 100 years ago, without much more than a compass as equipment, took more than courage. It took an immense desire to grab that brass ring; one that was sky-high and out of reach for the vast majority of humankind.
I’m also extremely grateful to my friend and fellow Rotarian Dr. Arch Woodard for helping me understand the uses and side effects of chloroform in the early days. Though this was long before his time, he was kind enough to provide me with valuable information about early twentieth-century medicine, and kinder still in using layman’s terms in discussing it with me.
Finally, I am greatly indebted to the older generation of Miamians