KATHY MEXTED
Kathy Mexted is a writer and photographer and edits an aviation magazine called Airsport for the Australian Sport Aircraft Association (their version of the American EAA).
Her first book, Australian Women Pilots, is a compilation of ten stories ranging from the first Australian woman to operate with her Commercial Pilot License, and taking a story from each decade through to the current day.
Kathy is a private pilot who learnt to fly in rural Australia in 1991 after her father had handed her the controls of the family Archer a decade before and encouraged her to have a go at flying. Gripped by the task, she ascended, descended and banked as she tried to hold course. In the back of her mind, she declared she’d return to aviation at some stage and have a go at it. Thirteen years later she was back in town and enjoyed two years of training and joy flights. She married a commercial pilot and they fly from a small strip on their property in Central Victoria.
She began writing at 45, by doing a Diploma of Professional Writing & Editing when her children were still young.
It was an outlet that allowed her to travel and meet interesting people, while building a portfolio of work for magazines and podcasts. She quickly fell into writing aviation stories for the Australian AOPA magazine and other GA publications. Alongside her love of story is her love of photography, particularly air to air photography, which requires some gymnastic manoeuvres at times (think shooting from a Pitts S2 under the canopy). When somebody suggested she write a book, it took a few goes to settle on Australian Women Pilots. She asked the agent why she thought that would be a good subject and the response was ‘Because you are one!’
After hearing an 88-year-old lady speak at a flying conference, Kathy determined then to bring that story to a wider audience, and so the book was born. With plenty of experience interviewing and recording stories, it was a small step into writing more long-form stories, however the step from 800-1500 word articles to 7000 word features did take a bit of managing. Most of the women in the book were gracious about being profiled, however few of them put their hand up at first. Kathy was careful to discuss style and intent, which was just to ‘tell the stories’ without glorification or misrepresentation. Each of the women was also involved in the telling and editing of the final product.
The trickiest part was researching facts. There are so many details in aviation — from dates, settings, people, landscapes, sequences of events, and reputations to consider. Because the book covers such a wide timeline that crosses some specific episodes, such as World War II, 1950s New Guinea, a landmark court case, it was important to try and pin down the details. The book has been surprisingly well received and a joy to promote.
There are a few ideas for a second book and lately Kathy’s thinking leans towards the merge of aviation and science. Actually, she just had that idea this morning.
Website : kathymexted.com.au
Twitter : kascribe
Instagram : kathymexted
Facebook : Kathy Mexted Writing & Photography
Buy : AUSTRALIAN WOMEN PILOTS