The Meeting of St.-Exupery and the Lindberghs – an introduction

I have been wanting to post an entry from Anne Lindbergh’s journal (actually a couple entries) for a long time (especially since the recent revelations regarding St.-Ex’s plane.) The entry describes the first (and only) meeting between the Lindberghs and St.-Exupery.

I’ve read Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s journals (5 volumes of them) more times than I can count. I’ve also read her beautiful book Gift from the Sea many times, usually in dark passages of my life. It’s a great comfort. She has a couple of aviation books out, too, which she wrote early on in her marriage – when she and Charles were flying about the world, in their tiny plane. This was, obviously, in the infancy of commercial aviation. One of those books is North to the Orient, describing their trip (just after the birth of their doomed first son) flying north – up through Canada – up to the northern wilds of that vast country – across the Bering Sea – and then down the coast of Russia and China. Her writing is quite wonderful, although I always get the feeling that she struggles with the long shadow of her world-famous husband. In my opinion, it’s not until she gets out from under HIS interests and HIS concerns, when her writing really blossoms – in Gift from the Sea. But still, it’s a very interesting picture of the two of them, their challenges with the airplane, and Anne having to put herself through a rapid learning curve to keep up with Charles, in terms of flying ability. Her other book is called Listen! The Wind – this describes their travels over Europe and North Africa.

Now it is OBVIOUS from reading Anne Lindbergh’s journals that this woman can write. She knows how to express herself with great beauty, sensitivity, and vulnerability. She has a gift. However – because she married one of the most famous men in the world, before she was even really a fully formed person (she led a very protected life) – her aviation books fall a bit flat. They certainly aren’t classics of the genre, although they do have some merit.

There are 5 volumes of her journals. The first one, Bring Me a Unicorn is from her girlhood, her years at Smith college, and her time in Mexico City with her family. Her father, Dwight Morrow, was ambassador to Mexico. This was how Charles Lindbergh came into her life. He flew down to Mexico in … 1928, I think?? Can’t remember. Anyway, Anne was barely out of her teens, had never had a boyfriend, and was a shy bookish dreamy-eyed romantic girl. (And through her life, she remains rather dreamy-eyed and romantic.) Charles was definitely of the world, a man of action, not words or deep feelings. But sparks flew between this unlikely pair, and after a whirlwind romance they got married. I love her writing about their “dates” – which consist of the two of them flying around in his plane, basically to escape the hounding of the press. Of course, the engines were so loud that they couldn’t even TALK to each other, but would pass notes back and forth. On the basis of this, she fell head over heels in love with him.

The second volume is called, appropriately, Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead. This is the volume of their early marriage, the excitement of it, for both of them. Their relationship is passionate, connected, thrilling. They have a son. They take a months-long trip to the Orient. This is the “hour of gold”. They return home, and then comes the “hour of lead” – the kidnapping and murder of their son.

The third volume is called Locked Rooms and Open Doors. This is the stunned aftermath of the nightmare. They begin to have more children. They travel, extensively. Through Europe, Africa, Russia. The press will not let up – they get more death threats – they fear for the lives of their children – and so they move to Europe.

The fourth volume is called The Flower and the Nettle. Charles, Anne, and their growing family, move at first to England. But the press still won’t let them alone. And so they rent a small stone castle on an isolated island off the coast of France, where they hope they will be left alone. During this volume, the forces of evil are growing in Germany. It is during this volume that Charles begins his love affair with German might which will make him, basically, Public Enemy #1 for years – actually, until the end of his life. You get the uneasy feeling, in this volume, that the Lindberghs are WAY out of their depth.

The final volume is calld War Within and War Without. The Lindberghs move back to America, at the outbreak of war. They live on Long Island. They now have 5 children. Anne is struggling to find her OWN way, her own life, separate from her husband. Charles gets involved with the America First movement, during WWII – trying to keep America out of the war. He becomes an enormously controversial figure. So does she. Her support of her husband causes a break to occur between her and her family. Her family, the Morrows, have contempt for Charles’ views, etc. etc. The Lindberghs find themselves in the middle of a firestorm. And actually – Charles goes forward, and does what he likes, regardless of the consequences. Anne backs him up, because she doesn’t want to abandon her husband – and yet her journals are filled with tormented questions. She reads the speeches he wants to make, and begs him to edit them, to soften them. He refuses. He’s kind of an ass, to be honest. I won’t take away from him his original accomplishment in flight – and from reading these journals so many times, there are many many qualities of this man (as a husband, I mean) that I find very attractive. Very sweet. But still. His position during WWII was idiotic.

It is during this final volume, in 1939, to be exact – that Antoine de Saint-Exupery comes into their lives.

St.-Ex wrote the preface to the French edition of Anne Lindbergh’s book Listen! The Wind. She was beyond thrilled about this. It seemed to her a validation of her worth – not just as a woman married to this “great man”, but on her own – a writer in her own right. Anne had also written a review of his book Wind, Sand and Stars – so even though it was through Charles that their paths crossed – it was on the level as WRITERS that the two connected.

Truth be told, Anne Lindbergh was completely swept away by her 2-day meeting with St.-Ex. Listen to how she writes about him in her journal. She falls in love with him, in an emotional “we are soulmates” kind of way. (The most dangerous kind of love. Ouch. I know this from experience.) She reveals, to her journal, how lonely it is, at times, in her marriage to Charles. She yearns for communion of this kind, she longs for validation as being separate from her husband, yadda yadda.

When St.-Ex disappears, in 1944, she goes into a tailspin. She hadn’t seen him SINCE their meeting in 1939. But she obviously carried an invisible torch for him. Like: “as long as I know that there is a man like that out there, existing in the world, I will be all right…”

He is “the other man” in her life. She went into a deep depression. Charles basically knew all of this was going on, and would make joking comments: “I suppose I should be jealous of him …”

I post this for my own pleasure, but I also post this because I know I have many aviation-nut readers, as well as actual pilots. I hope you enjoy this entry from Anne Lindbergh’s journal.

I’ll post it shortly.