Behind Her Smile by Beverly Golden Cuevas
Thank you to iReadBookTours and Beverly Golden Cuevas for including me on this book tour and to Beverly for participating in an exclusive interview. This book is Beverly's memoir about her time as a stewardess and her life. I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post!
Book Description:
Being raised in Parkersburg, WVA, Janie didn't have big aspirations for her life. Tired of her dead-end job at the phone company her best friend suggested she interview to become a Stewardess. Fearful she would be rejected because of her height; she was shocked when she was accepted. A whole new world opened up to her. Seeing places she had only read about, spending time with politicians, movie stars and professional athletes. One special athlete, a professional basketball player named Wendell Ladner stole her heart with his southern charm. An extraordinary 'connection' with Elvis Presley allowed her the unique experience to spend 'one on one' time with him and remain in touch until his passing. You'll share with her the challenges of marrying someone so different from her upbringing and coping with attempts to try and fit in. Behind Her Smile reveals a devastating event that deeply affected Beverly and made her reexamine her life and what she truly wanted out of it.
Being raised in Parkersburg, WVA, Janie didn't have big aspirations for her life. Tired of her dead-end job at the phone company her best friend suggested she interview to become a Stewardess. Fearful she would be rejected because of her height; she was shocked when she was accepted. A whole new world opened up to her. Seeing places she had only read about, spending time with politicians, movie stars and professional athletes. One special athlete, a professional basketball player named Wendell Ladner stole her heart with his southern charm. An extraordinary 'connection' with Elvis Presley allowed her the unique experience to spend 'one on one' time with him and remain in touch until his passing. You'll share with her the challenges of marrying someone so different from her upbringing and coping with attempts to try and fit in. Behind Her Smile reveals a devastating event that deeply affected Beverly and made her reexamine her life and what she truly wanted out of it.
Interview with the author:
Q. What made you decide to write a book?
A. It seems every time I would share about my job and the celebrities that I had on board or met on a layover, people not in the airline business said I should write a book and share my experiences. I thought about it and decided to go for it.
Q. What do you hope people learn from your story?
A. To not give up on your desire to do something in spite of the circumstances.
Q. Which was the hardest person to write about?
A. There were two. My first husband. I didn’t want to say negative things about him and our life. The second was Wendell Ladner, the Professional ABA Basketball player that I had a 3 and a half years affair with. I didn’t want my readers to think badly of him or me for the circumstances we found ourselves in.
Q. Are you glad that you wrote this book?
A. It was something I always thought I would like to do. I wanted folks to recall what flying was like in the past. And to learn that just because their Stewardess was always smiling, things might not have been so great on the ground in her life.
Q. What brought you to decide to interview to be a Stewardess?
A. My best friend wanted to be one and she dared me to go with her.
Q. What was Stewardess Training like?
A. There was so much pressure! Learning airport codes, lots of paperwork, proper ways to serve meals, drinks I was not familiar with, BUT MOST TERRIFYING was HOW TO EVACUATE AN AIRPLANE in an emergency.
Q. Did you ever think that you might not make it to graduation?
A. Only once. I was standing in the lunch line with my arms crossed over my bust and the grooming instructor called me out. She told me I must not do that as it presented a negative response to my passengers in that it states, “I am not here for you.” She told me to walk up and down the stairs ten times to make sure it sinks in. It was a lesson learned. I never did that again.
Meet the Author:
Beverly Golden Cuevas was born Beverly Jane Golden in Ironton, Ohio in 1945. She spent the first 10 years of her life in Parkersburg, West Virginia with her family. Her father had a job opportunity in Columbus, Ohio in 1955 so away they went. Beverly started working at the age of 14 to contribute to her family finances. She graduated Columbus North High School in 1963. She moved on to work at the Ohio Bell Telephone Company after graduation. In 1965, on the dare of her best friend she went to an interview to be a Stewardess for American Airlines. American hired her and she started her flying career in New York, then commuting from Tulsa, Oklahoma to her Dallas base. She flew both domestic and international. During her career, she never received a bad passenger letter. In 1977, she was 1 of 12 Flight Attendants selected out of 16,000 to participate in a highly coveted special assignment to work at the prestigious American Airlines Golf Classic. Her flying career ended on December 1, 2001 after 35 years. Beverly now lives in Dallas, Texas. She has been married to her wonderful husband Randy for 43 years. She has two sons, Joshua and Kaleb. She is a loving wife and mother, never missing a baseball game or school talent show, in spite of her flying schedule! Mimi is blessed to pass on her knowledge and love of life to her grandchildren Eden, Elijah, Ellie, Logan and Holly.
connect with the author: goodreads
Beverly Golden Cuevas was born Beverly Jane Golden in Ironton, Ohio in 1945. She spent the first 10 years of her life in Parkersburg, West Virginia with her family. Her father had a job opportunity in Columbus, Ohio in 1955 so away they went. Beverly started working at the age of 14 to contribute to her family finances. She graduated Columbus North High School in 1963. She moved on to work at the Ohio Bell Telephone Company after graduation. In 1965, on the dare of her best friend she went to an interview to be a Stewardess for American Airlines. American hired her and she started her flying career in New York, then commuting from Tulsa, Oklahoma to her Dallas base. She flew both domestic and international. During her career, she never received a bad passenger letter. In 1977, she was 1 of 12 Flight Attendants selected out of 16,000 to participate in a highly coveted special assignment to work at the prestigious American Airlines Golf Classic. Her flying career ended on December 1, 2001 after 35 years. Beverly now lives in Dallas, Texas. She has been married to her wonderful husband Randy for 43 years. She has two sons, Joshua and Kaleb. She is a loving wife and mother, never missing a baseball game or school talent show, in spite of her flying schedule! Mimi is blessed to pass on her knowledge and love of life to her grandchildren Eden, Elijah, Ellie, Logan and Holly.
connect with the author: goodreads
Enter the Giveaway:
Thank you so much for reading, enjoying and posting about my book. I do hope that you enjoyed it and will tell your friends about it. Blessings.....Bev
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the author interview.
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