Interview

Jerrie Mock Interview by Rita Mock Pike

What inspired Jerrie Mock to fly solo?

When Jerrie was a little girl, she went up in a ford tri motor airplane at a fair nearby, when her dad took her. She knew she wanted to be a pilot some day. She received an atlas at some point after and started reading it and realised she wanted to fly around the it. It took her 31 years to fulfill that dream, yet she did it. So, grandpa told her to just, fly around the world already. She responded, “fine, I will” with a smile. US Air Force helped her plan the flight route (major art weiner (now colonel, retired). After she returned from her flight, she received many awards yet didn't really care that much about it, she made the flight for the fun of it. It was her lifelong dream and she fulfilled that, everything else was for everyone else, in her opinion.

At the time in 1964, is it rare for women to pursue a degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Ohio State University?

Yes, it was quite rare. She was in a class of 100 students and she was the only female and woman. She didn't care, though, she was there to learn. She'd spent more time playing with the boys than the girls anyway, so she felt right at home in the class. She also scored top in the class, by the way.

What were her goals?

She had always wanted to be a pilot since she was just 7 years old and decided she would fly around the world. In 1964, she was doing this for pleasure and fulfilment of dreams. It didn't occur to her until afterward that what she had done would be such an inspiration and influential moment in history. 

What advice do you think she would give to people to follow their dreams?

Whatever the world tells you that you can't do, ignore them, you can do anything, you can be anything. If society says you're just a girl, wear the dress they make you don for photos and then when you're off camera change into slacks, they're more comfortable anyway.

Can you tell us about the cookbook? 

I would be delighted to do so, you see, my grandmother was a gourmet chef, even if unofficially trained. She knew the in’s and out’s of world cuisines, thanks to her many friends from around the world who taught her their techniques and shared their recipes. She dreamed of writing a cookbook using these recipes she had. I've developed my proposal and hope to start shopping it to agents and publishers within the next 6 months, before her anniversary in April.

I’m interested to know what are your projects? 

I have several things going right now, some about grandma, and some completely separate. Regarding Grandma's legacy, I'm about to start recording the narration of the audio book of her memoir ‘Three Eight Charlie.’ I've got a children's book and cookbook in the works as well. For non Jerrie related things, I'm running the mockingowl creatives and the mockingowl roost, an art & literary magazine open to all voices. It includes 2 poetry books, 5 novels, and some collections.

Please listen to her podcast