The end of this month, I’ll be heading to the Beverly Hilton and a walk down a red ca
rpet. Yes, paparazzi and all. But it is not for me! I am merely an invited guest of NPR’s Cindy Carpien, producer of The Original Fly Girls - the story of female WWII pilots. NPR’s coverage of the Congressional Gold Medal Award given to the Women Air Service Pilots WWII (WASP) has earned it a coveted GRACIE AWARD. Named after Gracie Allen, this award started 60 years through the Alliance for Women in Media (formerly AWRT). The Alliance has served as the voice and resource for women in the media. And for more than three decades, the Foundation has been a leader in celebrating and honoring programming created for women, by women and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the industry. The Gracies strive to encourage the realistic and faceted portrayal of women in entertainment, commercials, news, features and other programs. As many of my readers know, my Mom (Mary Reineberg Burchard) was one of these pilots. Together with my sister, Susan Mullins and Pat Thomas, also the daughter of a WASP, we helped Cindy research the show and subsequent web site coverage. The result: on March 9, 2010, my sister, brother and I stood in our hotel room in DC and listened as Susan Stamberg opened up NPR’s Morning Edition with the story of these women. Her full eight minutes beautifully summarized why we would journey to Capitol Hill to represent our mother in the ceremony. Heidi Glenn, National Producer of Digital News produced an incredible web-story that included essays written by 20 of us about our WASP relatives.
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