PanAm and Beyond - Turbulence on the Ground

This semi-biographical book lets the reader take a look behind the scenes of an airline at different places of the world from the late 1940's until the early 1960's. The myriad of funny, sometimes hilarious, as well as intriguing episodes can not hide the complexity of an airline operation and lets the reader also appreciate the hard work needed for a smooth functioning of this industry.

Peter King started with Pan Am Cargo at La Guardia Field, New York at the age of nine-teen. Interesting shipments consisted of  an alligator and animals of all sizes. One of the most unusual crates contained a very life young woman who had herself shipped from Europe to locate her lover.. There are many other short stories including a skunk which escaped into the passenger terminal bringing passenger check-ins to a halt.

When Pan Am relocated to JFK airport, New York about four years later, Peter transferred to Passenger Service. Here he took care of many movie stars as well as ambassadors, heads of State and eventually was promoted to 'Station Manager' at Baghdad, Berlin, Nuremberg and Chicago. He encountered stowaways, smugglers, and a war criminal. It was an exciting, challenging and stressful sixteen years.

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The author was born in Germany and fled the Nazi Regime with his family, settling in New York. His High School and College majors were in journalism. He was associated with the Indianapolis Star, the largest daily newspaper in Indiana before serving his time with the U.S. Army. He also wrote articles for a number of magazines. He then joined Pan Am and in his work he encountered strange and comical, as well as hilarious situatious behind the scenes in which he lets the reader take part. Now that the Original Pan American World Airways no longer exists, these stories can be told.