AIR MAIL
Weenjoyhearingwhat you thinkabout themagazine— somuch so
that
ifyour letter to theeditor ispublished ina2013 issue,you’ll
beentered intoadrawing towin100,000AAdvantagemiles.
Want
achanceat themiles?Simplyemail your thoughts tousat
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milesforyourthoughts.
manatthebottomtoldpeopleoneitherside
ofmeto“gethero thechairatthetop.”Af-
tera little tumble, Iwasbackuponmy feet,
butmyboyfriendwas chucklingwhile try-
ing toencourageme. I still recall thinking,
“Ishe trying tokillme?”Slowly, I followed
himon awide slope thatwas described to
meas“forgiving.”Mythoughtwas: “Forgiv-
ingwho?”That little lapseofconcentration
ledtometurning,onlytofindIwas looking
up themountain, notdown. Icould seemy
future hubby at the bottom. Nowhewas
laughinghysterically,asImusthave looked
likeaclownskiergoingbackward.Nearthe
bottom I decided to fall sideways, andwe
boththoughtofwhatAdamrecommended—
skischool.Well,therelationship lasted,and
eventuallywewere skiingblackdiamonds
together.Thanks forremindingusto laugh
andhave fun in thesnow.
KathleenFranco,MD
ProfessorofMedicine&Psychiatry
Assoc.DeanofAdmissions&StudentA airs
ClevelandClinicLernerCollegeofMedicine
EDITORADAM PITLUKRESPONDS:
From one
Clevelander to another, I just got the biggest
kick out of your note, Kathleen. Can I put you
on retainer for your psychiatric services if my
scheme to getmy girls skiing doesn’t work?My
local ski-shop owner is considering dropping
me as apatient.
AMAGICSURPRISE
Itwas anice surprise onmy recent flight
fromSãoPaulo toNewYork tofindMagic
Johnsononthecover(“HoldingCourt,”Feb.
1).When someone hears theword
magic
,
theymight think of Disney orDavidCop-
perfield. But for sports fans, there’s only
oneMagic, andthat’sMagicJohnson—the
playerwho, togetherwithLarryBird and
Michael Jordan, was responsible formak-
ingbasketball aglobal sportwith fans and
players fromAlbania toZambia.Andwhat
a cover story itwas!MikeDowneywrote
aboutamanwho inspiresusnotonlyasan
athletebutasaperson.
HeitorShimizu,SãoPaulo,Brazil
WRITER MIKE DOWNEY RESPONDS:
Magic
has been a wonderful athlete and an inspiring
gentleman for the many years I have had the
pleasureof knowinghim. He’snot theathletehe
once was, but as a man, he continues to grow.
ASPECIALMIDDLESCHOOL
ThankyouforyourarticleaboutJackieRob-
inson (“AmericanHero,”Feb. 1). I grewup
inBrooklyn andwas an avidDodgers fan.
Itwas aparticularhonor as an adult tobe
among thefirst groupof teachersat Jackie
RobinsonMiddleSchool,builtonthesiteof
EbbetsField.Thankyou for remindingme
ofmyyouthandofJackieRobinson’s legacy.
LeahTrachten,NewYork
ASSOCIATEEDITORJANHUBBARDRESPONDS:
Thedepthand rangeof JackieRobinson’s impact
is amazing. How enjoyable itmust havebeen to
teach in a school named after him.
WORLDMAPPING
My family and I flyonAmericanAirlines
toVail, Colo., for our annual ski vacation.
Theno-electronicsruleat takeo haseven
my children searching for
AmericanWay
.
Mykidshead straight for the in-flightmov-
ies, and I always look forward to reading
AdamPitluk’scolumn. Ihaveco-optedand
sharedAdam’ssageadvicewithfriendswho
haveonehesitant spouseunwilling togive
up sand for snow (“Editor’sNote,”Feb. 15).
Theothersectionthat isageography lesson
at 37,000 feet is theworldmaps showing
whereAmericanflies.Mychildrenscanthe
maps lobbying forwhereweshouldgonext.
Americanprovidesmyfamilywithvacation
memories thatwill last a lifetime.What is
thevalueof this?Priceless.
PatriceBoyland,EastHampton,N.Y.
A.P.RESPONDS:
AmericanWay
is indeeda fam-
ilyaffair, and theBoylands aremakinggooduse
of it.As travel planninggoes, youshouldconsider
Seoul, SouthKorea, anewAA routestartingnext
month (and the cover story in our upcoming
May 15 issue).
BARRINGTONBACKGROUND
I recently read the story of Barrington
Irving (“TakingFlight”) in theFeb. 1 edi-
tionof
AmericanWay
.Justtogiveyousome
inside informationonBarrington,Iwashis
firstvolunteerwhenhehadtheideaofflying
around theworld. Therewere also other
AmericanAirlines volunteers— 767Cap-
tainTomHynes, whowas the chief pilot/
managingflightdirectoratthetime;Miguel
Navarro, whowas the safetymanager for
American Airlines inMiami; Chief Phil
Roundtree;FleetServiceClerkStevenKing,
plusaslewofothers.AmericanAirlinesalso
sponsored several tables forBarrington’s
welcome-homegala. It iswonderful to see
that the story aboutBarringtonhasmade
ourpublication.Someoftheemployeeshave
beencallingmeandsharingtheexcitement
of Barrington’s story, knowing theywere
partofaviationhistory.
MitchelSegermeister
CustomerServiceManager
AmericanAirlines,Miami
MANAGING EDITOR TRAVIS KINSEY RE-
SPONDS:
It was our pleasure to showcase
Barrington’s story, Mitchel. It’s even more
enlightening to know further details about how
his amazingquest came tobe.
ADIFFERENTVIEW
Yourmagazine is chock-full of little trea-
sures, andAdamPitluk’sFeb. 15 “Editor’s
Note” (“GoodAdvice,PartTwo”)mademy
husbandandmesmile.Wemet26yearsago,
andononeof theearliest trips tohishome
inVermont, he announcedwewere going
skiing. Ihadnotskiedandwasoneof those
Ohioanswholikedtoplantinthesunduring
thewinter.Mysweetieputusonachair lift
for six, andup themountainwe rode. Ev-
eryoneelsegoto atthetop,butIrodeback
down. The second timearound, theyoung
Misseditinthemagazine?
All
AmericanWay
articlesareavailable
onlineat aa.com/americanway
12
APRIL 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
