Ernest K. Gann
Ernest Kellogg Gann (born October 13, 1910 in Lincoln , Nebraska , † December 19, 1991 in Friday Harbor , Washington ) was an American pilot , author , sailor and conservationist .
Life
Gann grew up in a wealthy family as the son of an executive of the General Telephone and Telegraph Company. Contrary to his father's wish to pursue a career in the same company, he preferred to focus on photography, filming and aviation. His disinterest in the school was reflected in the school grades, which is why his parents sent him to the Culver Military Academy. Because of his interest in film, he enrolled at the Yale School of Drama without completing his degree. He then worked in New York City at Radio City Music Hall .
On September 18, 1933, Gann married Eleanor Helen Michaud, with whom he had three children.
Through a chance acquaintance, Gann got a job in connection with the documentary series The March of Time by Time Magazine . While filming the episode March of Time: Inside Nazi Germany , he narrowly escaped arrest by German troops.
Aviation career
Back in the US, Gann and his family moved to Congers, Rockland County . In early 1935 he began pilot training with the flight instructor Rosamond Blauvelt, who owned an airfield north of New York City and a Stinson Reliant training aircraft . On April 30, 1935, he made his first solo flight on this type and received a private pilot's license . Shortly thereafter, Gann earned a biplane of the type Brunner-Winkle Bird , which he used in his spare time. He lost his job during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Gann then moved to California, hoping to find a job in the film industry. However, he only did odd jobs there. He wrote other short stories during his time in California.
In the late 1930s, Gann decided to return to New York, where he began training as a commercial pilot at American Airlines on July 15, 1939 and gained experience on the Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 . For the next eight years he worked for American Airlines . During the Second World War, Gann also flew contract services for American Airlines for the Air Transport Command of the United States Air Force . As part of the military charter flights, he transferred machines of the types DC-3, DC-4 , Consolidated C-87 and Lockheed Lodestar to Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. He made some particularly formative experiences on flights for the Hump airlift in the Himalayas.
After the war, Gann began to work for the newly founded Matson Airlines , for which he flew with Douglas DC-4 from the US west coast to Honolulu. After this airline ceased operations at the end of the 1940s, Gann moved to Transocean Air Lines . Due to the commercial success of his novels, he ended his career as a professional pilot in 1952 and from then on devoted himself exclusively to writing. In the following years, Gann acquired several private planes which he used in his spare time.
Activity as a writer
Gann wrote numerous works in which he processed his experiences, such as Blaze of Noon (1946), The High and the Mighty (1953) and Fate is the Hunter (1961). His books formed the basis of numerous films such as Daytime again , Meeting Point Hong Kong , Conqueror of Death , Crash Landing in Paradise and The Flyer . Most of his works relate to his aviation activity, but he also wrote about his experiences as a fisherman and sailor.
Despite some success through the publication of articles and books, Gann now found his life to be cramped, boring and not very adventurous. He divorced his wife, who was in poor health and died on December 23, 1966. Several other strokes of fate befell Gann, including the tragic death of his eldest son in 1973.
During this time, Gann devoted himself to another passion that he had had since childhood: sailing. In Rotterdam he acquired the Albatross , a sailing ship with a metal hull, which he himself sailed across the Atlantic through the Panama Canal into San Francisco Bay. There the ship was overhauled, and Gann made extensive voyages in the South Pacific.
On the 50th anniversary of his promotion to captain of American Airlines , Gann took off for the last time in an airplane in the fall of 1991. This was his last flight; on December 19, 1991, he died of kidney failure in his home in Friday Harbor .
Web links
- Ernest K. Gann in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- NY Times obituary
- Brief portrait of Ernest K. Gann of the University of Houston
- Brief portrait of Ernest K. Gann of the Nebraska Center for Writers
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gann, Ernest K. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gann, Ernest Kellogg (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American pilot, author, sailor, and conservationist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 13, 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lincoln , Nebraska |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 19, 1991 |
| Place of death | Friday Harbor , Washington |