AN AMERICAN SAGA, Juan Trippe and His Pan Am Empire

This non - fiction book, which contains some fantastic photographs, tells the story of Juan Trippe, founder of Pan American World Airways.

An American Saga is the story of the man who virtually single - handedly opened up the world to commercial flight : Juan Trippe. Teeming with adventure, international intrigue and financial manipulations, An American Saga reveals how a sky - struck youg man of immense ambition and vision took a single - engined seaplane carrying mail 90 miles from Key West to Havana and expanded the operation into the worldwide airline that at one time considered itself the ’ chosen instrument ’ of the State Department abroad - and was so considered by official Washington. Basing his account on extensive interviews with Trippe ( who had remained silent for decades ) and other participants in this exciting drama, as well as on their private papers and Pan Am files, Robert Daley has created an enthralling narrative.

Robert Daley ( 1930 ) was born New York City. He is an American writer of novels and non - fiction. He is the author of 31 books, six of which have been adapted for film, and a hundred or so magazine articles and stories. Robert Daley graduated from Fordham University in 1951 and served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He spent six seasons as publicity director for the New York Giants of the National Football League in the days of Frank Gifford, Charlie Conerly and Sam Huff. He then worked on the foreign staff of The New York Times for six years based first in Nice, then in Paris, covering stories in sixteen countries in Europe and North Africa.
In 1971 - 72, he served as Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Police Department ( N.Y.P.D. ). Daley's award - winning 1978 non - fiction work Prince of the City was hailed by The New York Times Book Review : ’ The policeman as flawed hero, a recurrent and enormously popular figure in contemporary writing, has never been done better. ’ Daley's books, which have been translated into 14 languages, also include Year of the Dragon ( 1981 ) and Tainted Evidence ( 1993 ). Most of his books grew out of immersing himself deeply in studying people and subjects that fascinated him, from Grand Prix racing to opera to bullfights to treasure diving - and of course the N.Y.P.D.
( source : Wikipedia )