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Beryl Markham

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Aviator

The Resume

    (October 26, 1902-August 3, 1986)
    Born in Ashwell, England, United Kingdom
    Birth name was Beryl Clutterbuck
    Family moved to Kenya when she was two
    First woman to fly the Atlantic east-to-west solo (September 4, 1936)
    Wrote the memoir 'West with the Night' (1942)
    Became a successful horse trainer
    Trained six Kenya Derby winners
    Died in Nairobi, Kenya

Why she might be annoying:

    She was expelled from elementary school for rebelliousness.
    She left her son Gervaise to be raised by her mother-in-law.
    She openly conducted an affair with King George V's son, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.
    When her husband threatened to name Henry in his divorce suit, the royal family intervened to end the affair and bought off Beryl with a 15,000 pound trust.
    Biographer Errol Trzebinski suggested that 'West into the Night' had actually been written by Markham's third husband, journalist Raoul Schumacher.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was the first woman to receive a trainer's license under English Jockey Club rules.
    She was the first woman in Kenya with a commercial pilot's license.
    Her trans-Atlantic flight almost ended in disaster when a fuel line froze causing the engine to fail; it warmed up just in time for her to pull the plane up to safety before hitting the ocean.
    Biographer Mary Lovell investigated Trzebinski's claims and concluded that Markham had written 'West with the Night' by herself.
    Ernest Hemingway wrote, 'She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer.'
    She said, 'A life has to move or it stagnates.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 25 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 31 Votes: 45.16% Annoying