I just thought I needed to show some love by posting a link to this article about my mom. She retired from Alaska Airlines a few years back, and this piece ran in the Seattle Times.

As usual, here’s a little excerpt, and the links will take you to the full story:

For this aviator, the sky has been her only limit

By Sherry Grindeland

Seattle Times Eastside bureau

Alaska Airlines pilot Stephanie Wallach on Wednesday, her last day in the cockpit. She was among the first female commercial pilots.

Now that she’s retired from the cockpit, Stephanie Wallach says she’s not sure what the future will hold. “Maybe a little travel,” she says.

This photo shows Stephanie Wallach as a second-year pilot flying for Braniff at age 30. She was the second female pilot Braniff hired. In the early days of her career, Wallach says, passengers sometimes assumed she was a flight attendant, a situation she treated with humor.

Stephanie Wallach made Alaska Airlines history Wednesday when she hung up her captain’s hat following her final flight. The Medina resident became the first female Alaska pilot to reach the Federal Aviation Administration-mandated retirement age. She turns 60 today.

It was one of many firsts that have highlighted Wallach’s flying career. She was one of the first 10 female commercial pilots, the first woman to pilot a Boeing 727 passenger jet and a founding member of the International Society of Women Airline Pilots.

What she wanted after studying French and philosophy at Wells College in New York was a job that didn’t involve typing.

She became an assistant film editor. She was developing a career and saving a bit of money when she started thinking about taking a trip. Instead, she took her first flying lesson.

“I fell in love with flying,” Wallach said. “I was obsessed. ”

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