Beryl Markham

Born in 1902 in Ashwell, England, and raised in Kenya, Beryl Markham was a celebrated aviator and horse trainer whose memoir, West with the Night, remains a classic of the genre. When she was four, her family settled in Njoro, Kenya. Her mother soon returned to England, but Markham stayed, living in Kenya for the rest of her life. A noted maverick, she was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west and the first person to fly nonstop from England to North America. Her memoir earned early critical praise and, upon its reprinting in 1982, became a surprise bestseller. Markham died in 1986.