CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
FROM CAP'N MERYL
Link to this week's column at USAToday.com/travel:
Usa Today column
Notice anything DIFFERENT? Al The Web Guy has been
very busy giving us a new look. If you're just
joining us, trust me, it's better. If you've been
around awhile, we hope you like it. I love it!
Note: Just as this Update was about to go out I
got booked for a large radio show in the Detroit
area, and I know I have readers there. We're
taping next Monday, November 14th but I don't know
yet when show will air although it could be the
same day, so I wanted to let you know about it
now. If interested, you can go to Events Events
When I receive the time and date the show will
air, I'll post it there but as of right now I
don't know when I'll have that information. The
host is himself a private pilot, and those are
always really fun interviews. This one is slated
for somewhere around 30 minutes which is a lot of
air time. Some interviews last just five minutes
and I don't enjoy them nearly as much as the
longer ones.
Now, time to address something that, frankly, I've
been avoiding for awhile. Many of my readers who
go back several months (or more) with me have
written asking why I'm not writing about current
flights in this ezine right now. Some have even
expressed anxiety that I might have a medical
issue. I'm reasonably healthy but there is a
personal situation going on in my life at the
moment which dictates I not address what I
normally write about in this publication.
Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to discuss it
for now or I would.
That's okay, though. A little mystery and intrigue
are good for us once in awhile. Eventually the
situation will be resolved and then I should be
able to write at least a little something about
what has happened and hopefully I'll be able to
resume writing about what I want to write about. I
hope you'll stay tuned because even though my
ezine doesn't have the exact content I want for
now, the story behind this shift in my subject
matter is developing into an interesting one in
and of itself.
My intent here is not to frustrate you but to let
you know you need not worry about my well-being if
you have in fact been wondering and/or concerned.
So many of my readers have written expressing
concern about my health thought it was time to say
something, even if I can't say much. The situation
is also intensely frustrating to me and even more
so as I can't discuss it publicly at the moment.
That is why I've turned to writing about other
things of interest to me in my life which are only
indirectly related to aviation career and, whether
it's writing or speaking, whatever I do always has
aviation at its core. I have come to know many of
my readers now through email (and even a few
personal meetings) and it astonishes me how many
of my readers would like to write one or more
books and how many already have. For those of you
who want to write a book but think you can't or
don't have time to, actually, you do. You just
don't know it or believe it yet.
I read this method AFTER I wrote my first book
"The World At My Feet." It teaches you how to
write a book in just fourteen days. It sounds
ridiculous, but I can assure you this is a sane,
organized, methodical way of going about it which
helps preclude that famous thief of time known as
"writer's block." Use this method and you can
eliminate that one from your list of
procrastination excuses. I believe in this method
strongly enough to recommend it, so if you have
any interest, click here: Write A Book
On another subject, since I have so many new
readers each week, I like to occasionally mention
my friend Captain Lim of Malaysia Airlines, whose
site Ask Captain Lim continues to grow in
popularity. You can have a look here to see his
latest FAQ’s: FAQ 40 with 25 new questions
Regarding this week's title "Catch Me If You Can,"
hopefully many of you have seen the movie and are
familiar with the story. It was on HBO for a long
run some time ago and was on network TV over the
weekend.
Before there was the movie, there was the book
which dates back more than twenty years. If you're
unfamiliar with it, the story is about a teenage
boy who looks much older and runs around the world
impersonating a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, a lawyer,
a college professor and recruiter of airline
stewardesses (when they were still "stewardesses"
and quite glamorous) for Pan Am. When I was flying
B-727's in Alaska for a regional carrier in the
early 1980's, this book was at the height of its
popularity and we talked endlessly about this
character (Frank Abagnale, Jr.) and how he did it.
His character is played by Leonardo di Caprio in
the movie.
My favorite line from the story is when the FBI
agent (played by Tom Hanks) finally gets the
answer about how Frank was able to cheat on the
bar exam. He didn't cheat; he studied for two
weeks and passed it!
Al The Web Guy and I went (at my insistence) to
see the movie at a theater when it first came out
a few years ago, and I included mention of the
author in "The World At My Feet" as this man made
a profound impression on me. When it came time for
me to seek endorsements for my book, I found his
office and called asking how to go about asking
him to read and review my book. His secretary told
me it would be "impossible" as he had far too many
requests, far too little time and didn't endorse
books due to his heavy speaking and work schedule.
Impossible? I didn't think so.
I asked her if it would change her mind if I told
her that he was in MY book. That worked, she gave
me his private email address and he did in fact
endorse my book right on the front cover. The note
I wrote to him was entitled: To a Pan Am "captain"
from an ACTUAL airline captain. I felt confident
that would get his attention and it did. I went on
in the body of the note to tell him he was the
subject of discussion in airline cockpits for
months, how I thought he'd be interested to hear
about it, and he did in fact answer my note
immediately.
I explained to him how I looked up to him not
because he led a criminal life (he wrote millions
of dollars' worth of bad checks) but because he
was such a creative genius and if there is
anything I love and respect and want to possess
myself, it's creativity and originality. My
speaking coach always asks why anybody would want
to live their life like a copy when we're all born
to be originals. I agree entirely with that line
of thinking.
Frank (the main character in the story) and I
exchanged several notes and in one of them he told
me he was invited to be the keynote speaker at a
Pan Am retirement party and wasn't THAT ironic
after faking being a pilot for them. When the
movie was on TV again, I watched it and popped him
a note during one of the commercial breaks just to
say hello. He always answers my notes but it
sometimes takes a few days so we'll see if he does
this time or not. It's been several months since
we last communicated. He now earns millions per
year as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies
regarding fraud protection.
For my newest readers and as a reminder again to
others, don't forget my new book "Flights of
Whimsy Quips 'N' Quotes" will be out soon. The
retail price will be $11.95 plus shipping but
until Christmas you can order it for just $9.95
and I'll throw in shipping for free. Should ship
by mid-November or so.
Click here to order: Gift Ideas I’ve also put
autographed copies of my book "The World At My
Feet" on sale until Christmas in the form of free
shipping. Total price is $17.95. Ships within a
day or two. Click here to order: Autographed Book
And with that, Until Next Time, Maintain Airspeed!
Cap'n Meryl http://www.fromthecockpit.com
http://www.flyingfearless.com
Keynote Speaker http://fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm (keynote speaker information)
Link to this week's column at USAToday.com/travel:
Usa Today column
Notice anything DIFFERENT? Al The Web Guy has been
very busy giving us a new look. If you're just
joining us, trust me, it's better. If you've been
around awhile, we hope you like it. I love it!
Note: Just as this Update was about to go out I
got booked for a large radio show in the Detroit
area, and I know I have readers there. We're
taping next Monday, November 14th but I don't know
yet when show will air although it could be the
same day, so I wanted to let you know about it
now. If interested, you can go to Events Events
When I receive the time and date the show will
air, I'll post it there but as of right now I
don't know when I'll have that information. The
host is himself a private pilot, and those are
always really fun interviews. This one is slated
for somewhere around 30 minutes which is a lot of
air time. Some interviews last just five minutes
and I don't enjoy them nearly as much as the
longer ones.
Now, time to address something that, frankly, I've
been avoiding for awhile. Many of my readers who
go back several months (or more) with me have
written asking why I'm not writing about current
flights in this ezine right now. Some have even
expressed anxiety that I might have a medical
issue. I'm reasonably healthy but there is a
personal situation going on in my life at the
moment which dictates I not address what I
normally write about in this publication.
Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to discuss it
for now or I would.
That's okay, though. A little mystery and intrigue
are good for us once in awhile. Eventually the
situation will be resolved and then I should be
able to write at least a little something about
what has happened and hopefully I'll be able to
resume writing about what I want to write about. I
hope you'll stay tuned because even though my
ezine doesn't have the exact content I want for
now, the story behind this shift in my subject
matter is developing into an interesting one in
and of itself.
My intent here is not to frustrate you but to let
you know you need not worry about my well-being if
you have in fact been wondering and/or concerned.
So many of my readers have written expressing
concern about my health thought it was time to say
something, even if I can't say much. The situation
is also intensely frustrating to me and even more
so as I can't discuss it publicly at the moment.
That is why I've turned to writing about other
things of interest to me in my life which are only
indirectly related to aviation career and, whether
it's writing or speaking, whatever I do always has
aviation at its core. I have come to know many of
my readers now through email (and even a few
personal meetings) and it astonishes me how many
of my readers would like to write one or more
books and how many already have. For those of you
who want to write a book but think you can't or
don't have time to, actually, you do. You just
don't know it or believe it yet.
I read this method AFTER I wrote my first book
"The World At My Feet." It teaches you how to
write a book in just fourteen days. It sounds
ridiculous, but I can assure you this is a sane,
organized, methodical way of going about it which
helps preclude that famous thief of time known as
"writer's block." Use this method and you can
eliminate that one from your list of
procrastination excuses. I believe in this method
strongly enough to recommend it, so if you have
any interest, click here: Write A Book
On another subject, since I have so many new
readers each week, I like to occasionally mention
my friend Captain Lim of Malaysia Airlines, whose
site Ask Captain Lim continues to grow in
popularity. You can have a look here to see his
latest FAQ’s: FAQ 40 with 25 new questions
Regarding this week's title "Catch Me If You Can,"
hopefully many of you have seen the movie and are
familiar with the story. It was on HBO for a long
run some time ago and was on network TV over the
weekend.
Before there was the movie, there was the book
which dates back more than twenty years. If you're
unfamiliar with it, the story is about a teenage
boy who looks much older and runs around the world
impersonating a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, a lawyer,
a college professor and recruiter of airline
stewardesses (when they were still "stewardesses"
and quite glamorous) for Pan Am. When I was flying
B-727's in Alaska for a regional carrier in the
early 1980's, this book was at the height of its
popularity and we talked endlessly about this
character (Frank Abagnale, Jr.) and how he did it.
His character is played by Leonardo di Caprio in
the movie.
My favorite line from the story is when the FBI
agent (played by Tom Hanks) finally gets the
answer about how Frank was able to cheat on the
bar exam. He didn't cheat; he studied for two
weeks and passed it!
Al The Web Guy and I went (at my insistence) to
see the movie at a theater when it first came out
a few years ago, and I included mention of the
author in "The World At My Feet" as this man made
a profound impression on me. When it came time for
me to seek endorsements for my book, I found his
office and called asking how to go about asking
him to read and review my book. His secretary told
me it would be "impossible" as he had far too many
requests, far too little time and didn't endorse
books due to his heavy speaking and work schedule.
Impossible? I didn't think so.
I asked her if it would change her mind if I told
her that he was in MY book. That worked, she gave
me his private email address and he did in fact
endorse my book right on the front cover. The note
I wrote to him was entitled: To a Pan Am "captain"
from an ACTUAL airline captain. I felt confident
that would get his attention and it did. I went on
in the body of the note to tell him he was the
subject of discussion in airline cockpits for
months, how I thought he'd be interested to hear
about it, and he did in fact answer my note
immediately.
I explained to him how I looked up to him not
because he led a criminal life (he wrote millions
of dollars' worth of bad checks) but because he
was such a creative genius and if there is
anything I love and respect and want to possess
myself, it's creativity and originality. My
speaking coach always asks why anybody would want
to live their life like a copy when we're all born
to be originals. I agree entirely with that line
of thinking.
Frank (the main character in the story) and I
exchanged several notes and in one of them he told
me he was invited to be the keynote speaker at a
Pan Am retirement party and wasn't THAT ironic
after faking being a pilot for them. When the
movie was on TV again, I watched it and popped him
a note during one of the commercial breaks just to
say hello. He always answers my notes but it
sometimes takes a few days so we'll see if he does
this time or not. It's been several months since
we last communicated. He now earns millions per
year as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies
regarding fraud protection.
For my newest readers and as a reminder again to
others, don't forget my new book "Flights of
Whimsy Quips 'N' Quotes" will be out soon. The
retail price will be $11.95 plus shipping but
until Christmas you can order it for just $9.95
and I'll throw in shipping for free. Should ship
by mid-November or so.
Click here to order: Gift Ideas I’ve also put
autographed copies of my book "The World At My
Feet" on sale until Christmas in the form of free
shipping. Total price is $17.95. Ships within a
day or two. Click here to order: Autographed Book
And with that, Until Next Time, Maintain Airspeed!
Cap'n Meryl http://www.fromthecockpit.com
http://www.flyingfearless.com
Keynote Speaker http://fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm (keynote speaker information)
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