When the 'Chute Went Up; Adventures of a pioneer Lady Parchutist [sic--should be Parachutist]

Amberly, Stroud, England: Skyline, 1996. Revised Edition, presumed first printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. 183, [1] pages. Drawings and Photographs. Index. DJ front flap has two small creases. DJ has slight wear. Inscribed on the fep by Molly Sedgwick and card for a reception laid in (perhaps for a signing event). Elizabeth "Dolly" Shepherd (1886-1983), born as Elizabeth Shepherd, was a parachutist and fairground entertainer in the Edwardian era. In 1905 she ascended on a trapeze slung below a hot-air balloon to a height of two to four-thousand feet before descending on a parachute. On one occasion both the balloon and the parachute malfunctioned, and she found herself rising to 15,000 feet. At this height, both the cold and lack of oxygen were threatening to make her lose her grip and fall to her death. Fortunately, the balloon returned to earth before it was too late. According to BBC History magazine she liked to "go high because I had it in my head that if I had to be killed, I'd like to be killed completely: good and proper!" She recalled that on one occasion she almost landed on a steam train "That driver, he had some forethought: he blew the steam and just blew me off into a canal at Grantham." Despite a number of close calls, she not only survived an eight year career as Britain's "Queen of the Air", but a few years before her death in 1983, (at age 96), she flew with the Red Devils, whose modern parachuting techniques she greatly admired. She was a WAAC Driver-mechanic during WWI on the Western Front and was a Fire Service Volunteer and a Shelter Staff Officer during WWII. Shepherd later married, (married name Elizabeth Sedgwick) and her daughter Molly helped write her memoir. In 1904 Dolly Shepherd was one of the most popular of the exclusive, daredevil back of parachutists who thrilled crowds at London's Alexandra Palace and throughout Britain, at a time when no aeroplane had yet flown in Europe. For eight years Dolly toured the country, hooked on the excitement of sailing through the air, the adulation of the crowds, and the VIP treatment afforded to such a remarkable young woman. Here courage and daring were unbounded and her indomitable high spirit were often displayed. She participated in the first ever mid-air rescue attempt. Her memoir includes discussion of other engaging characters, such as Samuel Franklin Cody and Auguste Gaudron, the team that led the group of parachutists to which se belonged.