"The big storm over Amarillo was breathing down our necks now, having reversed itself completely, and I had the choice of flying the canyon, something I would not do in a light plane under any circumstances, or landing on someone's ranch. Suddenly the plane rose just a fraction of a second, then wham! Down she went. I heard a loud crack as I pulled the throttle clear back and nosed her down. There goes a wing, I thought, but Fred shouted in a muffled voice that it was just his head going through the top! And it had, through the inner canvas roof. I looked back and there he sat, baggage tumbling around his shoulders." Cloud Clippers: The High-Flying Life of Marie Rae Miller Hubert is the story of a woman's daring and remarkable life. Marie was a teacher, meteorologist, artist, writer, poet, private and commercial pilot, and completely unique mother. Flying was her passion. She earned her private pilot's license in 1945 at age twenty-four, then marched into a bank and requested a loan to buy her first plane, a Piper J3 Super Cub. She earned her commercial license at twenty-seven, taught aviation at a military school, set an altitude record in Oregon, and helped shape generations of students as a high school teacher. At age twenty-eight, Marie married a Navy veteran, Frederick Emil Hubert, twenty-six years her senior. Together they flew several cross-countries, most of them fraught with storms and close calls. They eventually settled in Florida, where, at ages forty and sixty-six, they received unexpected news: they were going to have a baby. Karen eventually became her mother's co-pilot and travel partner, and their numerous adventures together created an unbreakable bond. In total, Marie owned three airplanes, each of them dubbed Cloud Clipper, in which she completed twelve circumnavigations of the United States. As a child, Karen flew with her mom on four cross-countries in a 1958 Forney Aircoupe. Remarkably, it's still flying the skies of Oregon.
Marie continued her journeys by car, RV, cruise ship, and airline long after she sold her final plane; well into her eighties, often accompanied by her Siberian husky. Drive alone to Alaska for two months at age seventy-nine? Check. Marie explored every state in the U.S. by small plane, car or RV; and visited Mexico, Canada, a myriad of Caribbean islands, and most of Europe. She sailed on seven cruises, around the Caribbean, to Canada, and to Mexico. Impressively, she journeyed to forty-eight out of our sixty-three National Parks. Included in Cloud Clippers are Marie's original flight logs, photos, newspaper clippings, and stories she wrote of her adventures. She was a fierce feminist before there was such a designation, and her voice shines bright over the course of her ninety-four unique, adventurous years. At its heart, Cloud Clippers is a love letter from a daughter to her mother.

Born in Winter Haven, Florida, to a forty-year-old mom and sixty-six-year-old dad, Karen Hubert Madigan spent her childhood weekends and summers flying in a red and white, two-seater Forney Aircoupe with her mother, the pilot. Karen skipped two grades, and graduated Valedictorian of her high school at age sixteen, went to college two thousand miles away, and graduated with a B.A. in English at twenty. Karen has lived in Florida, Arizona, California, and Wyoming, where she currently resides with her husband and two cats. She is the Acquisitions and Cataloging Services Coordinator at Laramie County Public Library. Karen was honored to appear on Jeopardy! in 2003, but like Weird Al's song, she lost, ending up in second place. Travel and books are Karen's passions, and so far, she's traveled to forty-eight states and thirty countries. Contact Karen at or on Twitter @flewthecoupe77 Marie Rae Miller Hubert was born in 1920 in Steubenville, Ohio, the firstborn of three fierce, independent girls. Marie was a teacher, artist, writer, meteorologist, and private and commercial pilot, earning her private license at age twenty-four and commercial license at twenty-seven. She owned three small airplanes over the course of her life, and made twelve cross-country flights, both solo and with a passenger, between 1946 and 1975. Marie also traveled by car, RV, ship or commercial jet to all fifty states and to over thirty countries. Marie lived in Ohio, Washington, D.C., Arizona, Oregon, Florida, California, and Wyoming. Flying was her passion and Wyoming her favorite place in the world.