“Up in the Air” author, Betty Riegel will be at the library for a reading & signing  of her book. 

Thursday, August 12,
from 1-3 p.m.

Betty will be joined by her husband, Emporium native, Kent Riegel. She will read an anecdote from her book and then be available to chat and answer questions.

Special edition signed copies of the book will be available for sale during the event at $20 each. The special edition includes full color photos from her time aboard PanAM. A copy of the book is also currently available for checkout at the library.

Betty & Kent Riegel are pictured here dressed to the nines. The pair will be at the library in August for a reading and signing of Betty's book,
Shown is the book cover image for

British-born author, Betty Riegel will be at the Barbara Moscato Brown Memorial Library on Saturday, August 12 from 1-3 p.m. The author of “Up in the Air: The Real Story of Life Aboard the World’s Most Glamorous Airline” will be reading an excerpt from her book and signing special edition copies.

After responding to an ad in the local newspaper, [Betty] secured herself an interview for the Pan Am training program and at just twenty-two years old was selected from thousands of eager young British women to begin a career that would change the course of her life. Betty said goodbye to everything she knew and boarded a plane to New York, a city full of noise, towering skyscrapers, and promise. Under the watchful eye of her “housemother,” Dottie, Betty mastered the art of being the perfect Pan Am stewardess—everything from faultless etiquette, geography, and safety to seamless makeup application, charming influential passengers, and preparing five-course Parisian cuisine at 37,000 feet.

But no amount of training could have prepared her for the roller coaster of life in the air… UP IN THE AIR charts the grueling yet fabulous life aboard the most iconic airline there has ever been and how a young woman from Essex opened her eyes to the world and lived her dream.

Betty will be joined by her husband, Emporium native, Kent Riegel. She will read an anecdote from her book and then be available to chat and answer questions.

Special edition signed copies of the book will be available for sale during the event at $20 each. The special edition includes full color photos from her time aboard PanAM. A copy of the book is also currently available for checkout at the library.

Registration is not necessary. For more information, contact library staff at 814-486-8011.