Passion Play

Task 12, March 21 to March 28

NOTE: Paul is the co-host of our podcast, OLD PEOPLE THIS WEEK.

Air travel, for me, is not a duty or responsibility, it is a passion. In many ways it saved me. It was a passion I shared with my father. Here is a bit of his story.

My father (a member of the so-called “Silent Generation”) emigrated to the United States as an engineer from Canada in the late 1950’s, went to work for Boeing, and eventually became a citizen. His timing, in hindsight, was superb–the Boeing 707, an engineering and aviation marvel, went into commercial service in 1958 and the jet age was born.

To put that statement into perspective, at that time LESS THAN 1% of the world’s population had traveled aboard an airplane. Think about that! And for the millions and millions who have flown since 1958, nearly every traveler has had that experience aboard a Boeing jet. I myself took my first transcontinental flight in the late 60's. I traveled to London to visit my grandfather.

* Even more amazing is the fact that even today less than 20% of all the people on this planet have taken a domestic flight–and only 2%-4% an international flight!

Boeing ruled the air. It was a beautiful, efficient, and (most importantly) safe machine. Its tagline was “bringing people together”, and it did so: beyond its physical attributes, it shrunk the world in the best possible way, allowing the world’s cultures, products and peoples to cross pollinate.

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My father and stepmother Marian experienced a bit of that pollination. In 1974, President Richard Nixon made the first foreign trade deal with China. Their purchase? Ten Boeing 707 aircraft. Marian and my father traveled to China to accompany the delivery of those jets. They took up residence in the Hotel Peking for over a year. Marian had vibrant red hair, a trait nearly the Chinese people had rarely laid eyes upon, and when she stepped out of the hotel it would cause a scene…

Boeing–the harbinger of the jet age–changed the world. Faster air travel helped accelerate globalization. It allowed for easier movement of people, goods, and ideas across the globe. International business, tourism, and cultural exchange exploded. Entire industries grew out of the Jet Age, such as commercial aviation, aerospace engineering, and international tourism.

For my father it was equally impactful–he flew to nearly every continent, from South America to Australia to Europe to the Middle East and every African country. He led the global expansion and development of British Airways and Emirates Airways. I thought he had the greatest job in the world (after Jim McKay of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, of course). His passion became my passion, and that innate desire to travel embedded itself within me, and saved me when my first career, in television, went up in smoke.

Professionally my experiences have not been as impactful as my dad’s in the world of intercontinental travel, but personally they have been life-changing, and I have my father to thank for that.

Task:

What’s your passion? What inspired it? Take a moment to think about it.