Mark Shaw Book Links Dorothy Kilgallen Perspective to Amelia Earhart Mystery as Purdue Expedition Launches
Bestselling author Mark Shaw presents new historical connections between journalist Dorothy Kilgallen and aviator Amelia Earhart in the book Girl Around the World, released September 16, 2026, by CrossLink Publishing in hardcover with ISBN 978-1-63357-494-6. The supplied announcement states that Shaw examines the enduring mystery of Earhart through Kilgallen’s perspective and highlights parallels between Kilgallen’s 1937 account and the theories guiding the October 2026 Purdue University expedition searching for Earhart’s lost Lockheed Electra 10 airplane in the Pacific Islands.
The announcement notes that Kilgallen’s assessment of what likely happened to Earhart in 1937 strongly echoes the approach taken by the Purdue expedition. Shaw draws on Kilgallen’s own 1936 book about her participation in the Race Around the World and more than 20 other books about or by Earhart to establish these links.
Research for the book included Kilgallen’s 1936 chronicle of the Race Around the World along with extensive Earhart sources. The announcement reports that the two women shared previously unrecognized similarities: both were college dropouts, both wrote for Cosmopolitan magazine and the New York Evening Journal, and both worked to overcome gender discrimination in their fields.
Shaw reveals that Earhart followed the Race Around the World and sent Kilgallen an encouraging message that included the words, ‘I know you can make it, Dorothy.’ The announcement adds that Kilgallen’s detailed coverage helped establish the historic significance of Earhart’s 1932 solo flight across the Atlantic while advancing arguments for women’s equality.
The announcement highlights a July 6, 1937, article in which Kilgallen recalled her own Pacific flight and offered this assessment of Earhart’s situation: ‘Weather is the peril of the Pacific… I think her instruments went bad, her radio went bad, and her gas ran low while she was trying to navigate by second sight, or a hunch.’ Shaw’s book publishes the full column for the first time.
In the context of 1936, the Race Around the World promoted global air travel to everyday people and demonstrated worldwide connectivity. The announcement quotes Kilgallen’s contemporaneous observation: ‘They tell me that 250 Nazi storm troops will wait at the [Berlin] airport.’
The announcement positions Girl Around the World as a tribute to two remarkable women who shared more similarities than previously recognized. It describes the book as intended for historians, feminists, mystery lovers, and readers interested in true stories of adventure and unexpected friendship.
Mark Shaw is a former television legal analyst, noted criminal defense attorney, and author of nearly 30 books, including the bestselling The Reporter Who Knew Too Much. Purdue University has archived his body of work alongside materials from Kilgallen, Earhart, and Neil Armstrong. The supplied announcement states that Shaw is available for interviews in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco as well as virtual appearances nationwide.
