The Pan Am Podcast
Experience the legacy of the world’s most iconic airline, Pan American World Airways! This award-winning history and humanities program brings Pan Am’s 64-year history to life through engaging storytelling and insightful interviews from Pan Am employees, passengers, pilots, journalists, historians, authors, fashionistas, and aviation enthusiasts! Hosted by historian Tom Betti, the program has won the following awards: Gold 2024 & 2023 Muse Creative Awards; Gold 2024 Vega Digital Award; Silver 2023 Vega Digital Award; Gold Award from the 2023 Hear Now Palooza of the National Audio Theater Festivals; Silver 2022 Muse Creative Award; Arcturus 2022 Vega Digital Award (Podcast); and Arcturus 2022 Vega Digital Award (Best Host). The Pan Am Podcast is brought to you by the Pan Am Museum in Garden City, New York and is sponsored by the generous personal support of Mr. Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theatres and President of the Pan Am Historical Foundation. The Pan Am Museum Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and would appreciate your consideration of tax-deductible donations.
The Pan Am Podcast
Episode 39: Madeline Smith and a Romance in the Sky
In this episode we are joined by 98-year-old Madeline Smith and her daughter Valerie Smith O’Grady Skinner.
Both were Pan Am flight attendants…Madeline joined the airline right after the war in 1946 and Valerie, following in her mother’s footsteps, joined the company in 1977.
Madeline was a stewardess until 1951 when she resigned to marry the love of her life. But although personally leaving Pan Am’s employment, the airline was still an important part of her family as her new husband was a Pan Am pilot named Charles Smith. The two met on an overseas working trip and were inseparable, marrying only six months after they met. Captain Smith passed away in 1989.
Valerie stayed with the company until the end in 1991 where she was hired by Delta and would continue flying for almost two decades.
Today, Madeline is still a force to be reckoned with. At 98 years young…a typical day for Madeline is playing nine holes of golf, an hour of tennis, kayaking, and then walking two miles!
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support!
