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Odyssey: A Daring Transatlantic Journey
"The ultimate challenge for the pilot of a single-engine land plane is to cross the big pond--any ocean will do," writes Susan Oliver. "It's a little, I would imagine, like the pianist. Beyond scales and Czerny lie Mozart's Twenty-third and Carnegie Hall."
In 1966, Susan Oliver--actress and aviator--became the first American in years to receive permission to fly a private plane into Russia. Twelve months later, she set out. Her objective was to establish ten world records, for both men and women, in the category of single-engine aircraft weighing three thousand pounds. Her route would take her approximately eight thousand miles, mostly over dangerous North Atlantic waters.
She would fly from New York City to Canada, to Greenland, to Iceland, to Scotland, to Copenhagen in Denmark, and from there, after picking up a Soviet "communicator," she planned to fly to Moscow.
Not that she didn't have serious doubts, she informs us: "I have not had time to learn ditching procedures, try out the electric compass, figure out how to work the emergency oxygen tank, or really understand the portable high-frequency radio contraption."
Then why was this otherwise intelligent and sensible young woman flying a single-engine plane over the Atlantic to Russia? Because she was attempting "to keep this man I care for interested in me. Or at least, I think I am. Now that really is a stupid reason to sally forth on an adventure where, if one nut or bolt goes and I crash in frozen waters, I'll have less than one minute to live...."
Odyssey is both a thrilling adventure saga and the account of how her risk-taking enabled Miss Oliver to overcome a broken romance, become her own person, and triumph over personal frustration.
In 1966, Susan Oliver--actress and aviator--became the first American in years to receive permission to fly a private plane into Russia. Twelve months later, she set out. Her objective was to establish ten world records, for both men and women, in the category of single-engine aircraft weighing three thousand pounds. Her route would take her approximately eight thousand miles, mostly over dangerous North Atlantic waters.
She would fly from New York City to Canada, to Greenland, to Iceland, to Scotland, to Copenhagen in Denmark, and from there, after picking up a Soviet "communicator," she planned to fly to Moscow.
Not that she didn't have serious doubts, she informs us: "I have not had time to learn ditching procedures, try out the electric compass, figure out how to work the emergency oxygen tank, or really understand the portable high-frequency radio contraption."
Then why was this otherwise intelligent and sensible young woman flying a single-engine plane over the Atlantic to Russia? Because she was attempting "to keep this man I care for interested in me. Or at least, I think I am. Now that really is a stupid reason to sally forth on an adventure where, if one nut or bolt goes and I crash in frozen waters, I'll have less than one minute to live...."
Odyssey is both a thrilling adventure saga and the account of how her risk-taking enabled Miss Oliver to overcome a broken romance, become her own person, and triumph over personal frustration.
274 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 15, 2016
Oliver was known in her time for a variety of TV and movie work such as Peyton Place and a single memorable episode of Star Trek. I discovered that this actress had become a pilot and flown in a single engine plane across the Atlantic in 1967, and this story she chronicled in Odyssey.
In her book, she is an amazing mixture of pragmatism, idealism, silliness, and deep philosophy. Her writing flows between gripping narrative in scary skies and fun quips ("it was not easy being green" she said of her Star Trek Orion Girl role). There's also the odd literary allusion ("a long day's journey into flight") and a quote, in French, of Saint-Exupery. Did she write all of this book herself? I'd like to think so. She speaks of her motivation in writing "to express myself in an area with no trace of commercialism or compromise to it" - an attack on the movie star's life and maybe some movie stars she had known. Still she can't get away from it, being asked for autographed pictures even when at flight level 110! Unlike male pilots, she is wined and dined wherever she goes, she is called "pretty girl" and "dumb blonde", but at the end of the day, she's poring over her charts and complex calculations just like they are, because their lives depend on accuracy. She overcomes math and a fear of flying to do these things, and clearly has an analytical side, still she won't discount her mother's astrological predictions. The book has a chatty style. You can hear the voice over as the action unfolds. Some parts are hilarious, like getting taken away in a paddy wagon upon arriving in Scotland.
With terrible honesty, Oliver tells of an unrequited love that launched (and nearly scotched) this endeavor, and finishes with her return not only to face that rejection but also the fact that she had not been allowed to complete the goal of all her preparations for the flight. The hoopla present when she set off from LaGuardia was absent upon her return. But like a survivor, she details her second voyage, her road to recovery, even while I read of her smoking and her inability to quit, which forward in time I know will kill her.
Her 1990 New York Times obituary tersely states "There are no survivors". Could that be true? I will have to watch the 2014 documentary to find out. Called The Green Girl, it was made by fans in an effort not to lose this unique and interesting voice.
And can I really believe that nothing more than an unrequited love sent her across the Atlantic alone in her little plane? I don't see it. There is so much to learn in being a pilot, so much sacrifice and training required, it doesn't seem possible. I think the reason lies more in Oliver's admiring description of her acquaintance Jimmy Stewart, another actor-pilot, "who had lived reality outside the tinsel".
In her book, she is an amazing mixture of pragmatism, idealism, silliness, and deep philosophy. Her writing flows between gripping narrative in scary skies and fun quips ("it was not easy being green" she said of her Star Trek Orion Girl role). There's also the odd literary allusion ("a long day's journey into flight") and a quote, in French, of Saint-Exupery. Did she write all of this book herself? I'd like to think so. She speaks of her motivation in writing "to express myself in an area with no trace of commercialism or compromise to it" - an attack on the movie star's life and maybe some movie stars she had known. Still she can't get away from it, being asked for autographed pictures even when at flight level 110! Unlike male pilots, she is wined and dined wherever she goes, she is called "pretty girl" and "dumb blonde", but at the end of the day, she's poring over her charts and complex calculations just like they are, because their lives depend on accuracy. She overcomes math and a fear of flying to do these things, and clearly has an analytical side, still she won't discount her mother's astrological predictions. The book has a chatty style. You can hear the voice over as the action unfolds. Some parts are hilarious, like getting taken away in a paddy wagon upon arriving in Scotland.
With terrible honesty, Oliver tells of an unrequited love that launched (and nearly scotched) this endeavor, and finishes with her return not only to face that rejection but also the fact that she had not been allowed to complete the goal of all her preparations for the flight. The hoopla present when she set off from LaGuardia was absent upon her return. But like a survivor, she details her second voyage, her road to recovery, even while I read of her smoking and her inability to quit, which forward in time I know will kill her.
Her 1990 New York Times obituary tersely states "There are no survivors". Could that be true? I will have to watch the 2014 documentary to find out. Called The Green Girl, it was made by fans in an effort not to lose this unique and interesting voice.
And can I really believe that nothing more than an unrequited love sent her across the Atlantic alone in her little plane? I don't see it. There is so much to learn in being a pilot, so much sacrifice and training required, it doesn't seem possible. I think the reason lies more in Oliver's admiring description of her acquaintance Jimmy Stewart, another actor-pilot, "who had lived reality outside the tinsel".
March 7, 2020
A surprisingly interesting read. I knew nothing about Ms. Oliver except that she had guest starred on many television shows, including the first Star Trek pilot, "The Menagerie". Reading this memoir, I felt like I could hear her voice, the voice of a fiercely independent, yet very human, individual. Highly recommended for Trekkies interested in Star Trek actors.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews