Christine R. Yano is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawai`i, Manoa, will read from her latest book, Airborne Dreams: “Nisei” Stewardesses and Pan American World Airways at 3 p.m. on April 10 at Eastwind Books of Berkeley.

In 1955, Pan American World Airways began recruiting Japanese American women to work as stewardesses on its Tokyo-bound flights and, eventually, its round-the-world trips as well. Based in Honolulu, these women were informally dubbed Pan Am’s “Nisei,” even if not all of them were second-generation or Japanese American. They were ostensibly hired for their Japanese-language skills, but few spoke Japanese fluently.

Yano juxtaposes the airline’s strategies and practices with the recollections of former “Nisei” flight attendants. In interviews with the author, these women proudly recalled their experiences as young women who left home to travel the globe with Pan American World Airways, forging their own cosmopolitan identities in the process.

For more information about the book or to order copies, click here to download a copy of the flyer.